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Originally Posted by LJP07
How can a mechanical clock move slower or quicker or time move slower or quicker, even as an educated person in science, I can't seem to fathom such a simple problem?
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You need to add one curious fact. Forgetting gravity for a second, the slowing down and quickening of time works in such a way such that the measuring of these effects are the same everywhere in the universe. Also, the effect is exactly the same no matter how fast you’re traveling through space. In a sense, all the laws of physics are conspiring against us. This is called the principle of relativity. The outcome of all tests on moving clocks are independent of our location and velocity through space.
The mathematics of the time dilation effect is contained in the Lorentz transformation equations. If you have mastered high school algebra, then you can begin to understand the physics. See
A Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation From a Simple Definition of Time.
