experiments

This section is dedicated to documenting and sharing experiments for Simple Model hypothesis. New experiments will be added as the data becomes available.

Appendix A

An experiment to determine time dilation effects due to acceleration

Given the lack of empirical data for acceleration time dilation effects, an experiment was attempted to isolate acceleration time dilation from other effects. This experiment uses an electric motor that spins at 3600 rpm, a 25 cm cooking pot and three regular wrist-watches. Two of the watches fall behind a few seconds per month, as compared to time.gov website, but they diverge by only one second every ten days. It was verified that they are very consistent, diverging by same amount every ten days. The slower watch is labeled A, the faster is labeled B. The third watch (labeled C) is a bit more accurate than the other two, but still falls behind a few seconds per month. A counter weight was used to balance the pot on the other side of the watch. The set up for this experiment is shown in the picture below.

Figure 10 Acceleration time dilation effects experimental setup

A few calculations (a = v²/r) will show that spinning a watch in the pot driven by the motor will subject it to over 1700 g’s; letting it run over a ten day period, should yield a time dilation of about one second, which is measurable by these watches. This is assuming that acceleration produces the same time dilations as gravity. (Note that Earth gravity at the surface induces a time dilation of 0.7 nsec/sec.)

On January 12, 2010 and over the following few days, the experiment was started by synchronizing watches A and B to time.gov and to each other. It was determined, with the use of a video camera, that they were running within 0.1 sec of each other. Watch B (the fast watch) was selected to be run in the pot. The expectation was that after 10 days, if there were the time dilation expected, the watches will still be in synch; otherwise, watch B will be ahead by one second. After 24 hrs, the experiment was paused to verify that the watch was still working. It was observed that the watch B had fallen behind by one second with respect to watch A. This was unexpected.

In view of this event, it was decided to change the experiment and switch watch operation. The watches were synchronized again and watch A (the slow watch) was placed in the pot and let run for 24 hours. At the end of the 24 hour period, watch B was behind watch A by about ½ second.

At this point, watch C was enlisted for the experiment. The three watches were synchronized to time.gov and to each other, to the same previous mentioned accuracy. Watch B and C were selected to run concurrently in the pot. At the end of a 24 hours period, watch B was again behind by one (1) second, but watch C had leaped forward more than a second. At this point the experiment was stopped. The watches reverted to operating to the same accuracy as before the experiment.

The following conclusions were drawn from the experiment:

It was concluded that acceleration does indeed affect the operation of clocks, but it is unlikely that the observed changes were due to any time dilation effects, given the variation of the results. It is suspected that it was due to a distortion of the geometry of the oscillating circuit; very likely caused by a length contraction that accelerations are notoriously known for causing.

The length contraction of the oscillating circuit was an elastic deformation, since the watches operated as before after being subjected to high acceleration.

It was also concluded that to accomplish the experiment will require more sensitive equipment.

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Experiments Section This section is dedicated to documenting and sharing experiments for Simple Model hypothesis. New experiments will be added as the data becomes available. Appendix A An experiment to determine time dilation effects due to acceleration Given the lack of empirical data for acceleration time dilation effects, an experiment was attempted to isolate acceleration time dilation from other effects. This experiment uses an electric motor that spins at 3600 rpm, a 25 cm cooking pot and three regular wrist-watches. Two of the watches fall behind a few seconds per month, as compared to time.gov website, but they diverge by only one second every ten days. It was verified that they are very consistent, diverging by same amount every ten days. The slower watch is labeled A, the faster is labeled B. The third watch (labeled C) is a bit more accurate than the other two, but still falls behind a few seconds per month. A counter weight was used to balance the pot on the other side of the watch. The set up for this experiment is shown in the picture below. Figure 10 Acceleration time dilation effects experimental setup A few calculations (a = v²/r) will show that spinning a watch in the pot driven by the motor will subject it to over 1700 g’s; letting it run over a ten day period, should yield a time dilation of about one second, which is measurable by these watches. This is assuming that acceleration produces the same time dilations as gravity. (Note that Earth gravity at the surface induces a time dilation of 0.7 nsec/sec.) On January 12, 2010 and over the following few days, the experiment was started by synchronizing watches A and B to time.gov and to each other. It was determined, with the use of a video camera, that they were running within 0.1 sec of each other. Watch B (the fast watch) was selected to be run in the pot. The expectation was that after 10 days, if there were the time dilation expected, the watches will still be in synch; otherwise, watch B will be ahead by one second. After 24 hrs, the experiment was paused to verify that the watch was still working. It was observed that the watch B had fallen behind by one second with respect to watch A. This was unexpected. In view of this event, it was decided to change the experiment and switch watch operation. The watches were synchronized again and watch A (the slow watch) was placed in the pot and let run for 24 hours. At the end of the 24 hour period, watch B was behind watch A by about ½ second. At this point, watch C was enlisted for the experiment. The three watches were synchronized to time.gov and to each other, to the same previous mentioned accuracy. Watch B and C were selected to run concurrently in the pot. At the end of a 24 hours period, watch B was again behind by one (1) second, but watch C had leaped forward more than a second. At this point the experiment was stopped. The watches reverted to operating to the same accuracy as before the experiment. The following conclusions were drawn from the experiment: It was concluded that acceleration does indeed affect the operation of clocks, but it is unlikely that the observed changes were due to any time dilation effects, given the variation of the results. It is suspected that it was due to a distortion of the geometry of the oscillating circuit; very likely caused by a length contraction that accelerations are notoriously known for causing. The length contraction of the oscillating circuit was an elastic deformation, since the watches operated as before after being subjected to high acceleration. It was also concluded that to accomplish the experiment will require more sensitive equipment.