On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 1:18 PM, Mike Feher <mfe...@eozinc.com> wrote: > Anyway, regarding time and gravity, I certainly believe the mathematics of > Einstein and others, however, I have a hard time believing that man-made > instruments to measure the effects of gravity on time is valid. For example > in a Cesium clock, time is a function of the transition time between two > hyperfine lines of Cesium atoms. So, does gravity affect this transition time > within the Cesium atoms? It may very well, but, I am not smart enough to know > that. Maybe someone can help.
This may not be a very satisfactory explanation, but in a nutshell it's not the atomic transition time that changes with gravitational potential, but *time itself*. And remember, it's a *relative* effect - you can only measure it when you compare two clocks at different heights, never just by looking at one by itself, no matter how good it is. > Also, when someone mentioned moving a very sensitive scale up in elevation > and noting the difference due to gravitational effects, also seems odd to me. > Seems like even in the most sensitive scales, weight is measured as the > difference between the weighing platform and the body of the instrument. Here > again, moving the whole assembly up in elevation it would seem to me that > gravity would affect both the platform and the body, and the relative weight > indicated should remain the same. What am I missing besides gray matter? > Thanks - Mike Weighing scales do not work by measuring the gravitational attraction between the scale and the object to be measured. They measure the attraction between the earth and the object to be measured. When you go up a hill, you move the apparatus and the object, but not the earth. Henry _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
