Random Relativity Question

[R. U. Sirius]

Layman alert!

Okay, so from what little I understand of the theory of relativity, time goes slower for you the closer you get to the speed of light. I've never been able to wrap my head around WHY this is, but there it is.

Has anyone ever bothered to calculate how much the various speeds the Earth is moving (rotation, revolution around the sun, revolution around the galactic center, the galaxy's motion through space) affect our local timeflow, as opposed to if we were sitting perfectly still the way some fundies think we are?

[Ultimate Paragon]

I don't know, but I'll look it up.

[dpareja]

Layman alert!

Okay, so from what little I understand of the theory of relativity, time goes slower for you the closer you get to the speed of light. I've never been able to wrap my head around WHY this is, but there it is.

Has anyone ever bothered to calculate how much the various speeds the Earth is moving (rotation, revolution around the sun, revolution around the galactic center, the galaxy's motion through space) affect our local timeflow, as opposed to if we were sitting perfectly still the way some fundies think we are?

But what's your point of reference for those velocities? One part of relativity is that there is no privileged frame of reference: if you're in a moving car, it's just as rational to assume that you are moving and what's outside is stationary as it is to assume that you are stationary and what's moving is what's outside.

[Ironchew]

Okay, so from what little I understand of the theory of relativity, time goes slower for you the closer you get to the speed of light. I've never been able to wrap my head around WHY this is, but there it is.

The evidence we have points to the speed of light being constant, no matter where you are or how fast you're moving; space and time must compensate in unintuitive ways to keep that velocity constant in another reference frame. I'm not sure why spacetime works that way, but there it is.

Has anyone ever bothered to calculate how much the various speeds the Earth is moving (rotation, revolution around the sun, revolution around the galactic center, the galaxy's motion through space) affect our local timeflow, as opposed to if we were sitting perfectly still the way some fundies think we are?

The local timeflow is easy; every reference frame experiences time at the same rate, but it's only when we look at other things moving at different speeds that we notice their "time" is different. You can apply the Lorentz factor to specific velocities to figure out the scaling factor for time dilation, length contraction, relativistic mass, etc. Unless the velocity is an appreciable fraction of c, the Lorentz factor will be almost certainly 1 for practical purposes.

[Sigmaleph]

Layman alert!

Okay, so from what little I understand of the theory of relativity, time goes slower for you the closer you get to the speed of light. I've never been able to wrap my head around WHY this is, but there it is.

Has anyone ever bothered to calculate how much the various speeds the Earth is moving (rotation, revolution around the sun, revolution around the galactic center, the galaxy's motion through space) affect our local timeflow, as opposed to if we were sitting perfectly still the way some fundies think we are?

Problem is, the observed effect is the same whether you say a) Earth is moving relative to X, or b) Earth is perfectly still and X is moving relative to it. The two situations are physically identical.

(I assume it gets more complicated when you factor in that the Earth is not in an inertial reference frame, but that requires more general relativity than I am familiar with)

[Random Gal]

Super-advanced physics makes my head hurt.