A series of thoughts on sport, astrophysics and world events by
twin brothers…
The twins paradox: if one twin goes away on a rocket and comes back years later in the timeline of the other twin on earth, the twin on the rocket will have aged at a different rate relative to the one on earth (due to Special Relativity). But as relativity states, this is the same for either twin. So, which twin has actually aged more??? Being a twin, this paradox has always intrigued me..
This series of thoughts, splurged out in these blogs, will just showcase my thoughts on the things that are happening to us and around the world on most things, a lot to do with sport and physics!
Now, back to the paradox! The answer lies in understanding the concepts in relativity: here, the twin on the rocket could be said to be moving away from the twin on earth. But from relativity, the twin on the earth could be moving at the same speed away from the rocket. This is the paradox. But there are differences in the actual movements of the twins. The twin on the rocket will have periods of acceleration, which will impart a force. Only the twin on the rocket
will feel this force. Also, the rocket twin will experience different strengths of gravity as it moves away from the earth. And this is where the equal-ness of the twins’ situation breaks down.
You can still say that determining the twin that is moving away from the other is all relative but the situations that the twins are in is different and therefore leads to the conclusion that the twin on the rocket will be younger when he gets back. This is General Relativity – all you need to know!
