Science question?

Question

My long term science substitute teacher asked the stupidest question today. And he wants me-out of all peple-to research the answer. I already know it, but he wants me to explain why. Here's the question:

If you are travelling around the world in an airplane going at mock 4, and you keep on traveling across the International Date Line, would you go back in time?

Of course the answer is no, but how do I explain it? Is it because time and the International Date Line don't really exsist? Please help! It is for 6th grade science class.

Answer 1

Actually, it's spelled "mach four". And the International Date Line DOES exist. It's not painted on the Earth or anything, but it's imagined there. The Date Line is exactly across the Earth from the Prime Meridian. It's right off the coast of New Zealand. And, actually, since you would be going against it (if that makes sense), you would be flying to a place where it was still technically the day before! But you wouldn't REALLY go "back in time". And if you flew over it East towards Los Angeles, you would skip a day (it happened to one of my classmates coming back from vacation in Thailand). Hope I explained that all right.

Answer 2

It's not a stupid question. It is silly, but it is designed to make you think about how time zones work. The answer is no because time zones only mark local time on earth. When you cross a time zone you have to set your clock an hour ahead or back to be in synch with the local time.



If you are travelling from East to West at Mach 4, you will be travelling faster than the sun, so it will appear to get earlier as you go. You will travel from afternoom into morning into night.. You will have to set your clock back an hour each time you cross a time zone, which will happen every half hour or so. The sun crosses one time zone per hour, so you will see it set behind you in the East.



When you cross the IDL you will have to set your clock ahead 24 hours to counteract this effect. So the date will be 'tomorrow'. But as you continue around the world, you keep setting it back. When you get back to the IDL, you will have set it back 24 hrs, so it will be "today' again.



At Mach 4 you would go around the world in about 12 hrs. Suppose you cross the IDL at ten AM today, the 16th. When you cross the line it is suddenly ten AM the 17th. When you come around again it will be ten PM, but you will have set your watch back 24 hrs, so it will be 10 PM, the 16th, just before you cross the line, which will be the correct local time.



If you travel West to East everything happens in reverse. That is, you keep setting your watch ahead until you cross the IDL, then you set it back 24 hrs.



It's a pretty tricky question for sixth grade. A lot of adults don't really understand how time zones work.

Answer 3

All pretty good answers, though some were well off base. Consider this: I left GUAM Sunday morning the 29th of April (true story). When I landed in Hawaii it was Saturday evening the 28th. The next morning was again Sunday the 29th of April. I took off from Hawaii and landed in New Jersey that evening. Two morning flights from two differnt locations at the same time!



Of course this was involving the IDL.



One point missing in all of theexplanations is the fact that the globe is a circle. No matter how fast you circle it or how often, you end up back in the same time zone therefore will not experience any time displacement, only fatigue.

Answer 4

If you are standing on Main street and someone comes along and tears down the sign and puts up a sign saying Martin Luther King Boulevard, did you get transported to a different location? Time is similar. The progression of time is irreversible, the naming of the time can change. Now time can speed up and slow down. Traveling in the plane at mach 4 or any speed for that matter will cause time to slow down (the experiment with the atomic clocks). If you really want to turn back time, you have to create a wormhole and really mess up space time.

Answer 5

You are correct, the answer is no. Clocks have nothing to do with time, they were created to help humans regulate their activities. Crossing date lines and going through time zones will have no affect on the traveller unless he is travelling close to the speed of light. Time is a thing of mystery to most people. To me, there is no past or future there is only NOW. As one event comes to an end ,NOW is sandwiched right in before the next event starts. If time travel was possible it would mean that we could never die, we would always have to be on hand to welcome any time traveller from the past or present.

Answer 6

OF Course.... YOU are Right!



And it is Mach 4, which is 4-times the speed of sound.... at Sea Level.



Mach changes... with Altitude!



The speed of the Plane.... IS..... IRRELEVANT!



HE... was referring to a Science Experiment.. where TWO.. Atomic Clocks were compared.



One was stationary here on earth... and the OTHER was put into... A 747 Airplane and... flown... AROUND THE GLOBE...the Earth!



The difference was, "0.0000000001" Second!



Ask him this Question, "Were you speaking about the [and explain the above data]? ? ?



IF he is Really a Science TEACHER... he will say YES!



IF he says.... NO... then He is just.... MESSING WITH YOUR MIND.. and that of Other Students... AND HE IS NOT... a real teacher! [Even though he may have the Credentials!]



Print this answer OUT.. and have him contact ME... if you gives you A Hard Time!



Oh yes... YOU may ask Him... where He got his PhD... In QUANTUM PHYSICS?



Thanks, RR

Answer 7

Dates are simply "markers" for time, and not time itself. As you travel across the International Date Line, or time zones - or even to a friend's house whose clock may be 10 minutes faster than yours, it does not make you go back or forward in time. It just means that the people there have "marked" time differently than you have.

Answer 8

Yup, you're right. Why? Because to be able to travel back in time, the speed of light must be exceeded. If you're going around the world on a plane at mach 4, you'd just end up experiencing day, then night, then day, then night. You'll never go forwards or backwards in time.

Answer 9

actually you do go back in time because depending on where you travel the time in different parts of the world are different . For example here it might be let's say 3:30 p.m in France it might be 6:30 p.m it all depends on where you go

I imagine that if you travel west the time is less than where you might be

Answer 10

Time and time-keeping are two different things. It's always now, no matter when or where you are. (That's Mach 4.)

Answer 11

you can only travel back in time with the speed of light....so far thats imposible

Answer 12

think about this: "time", as in international datelines and clocks and such, is a human invention.

Answer 13

mark101112 hit the nail on the head.

Answer 14

wow 6th grade? well its never been proven that you can go back in time.