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  1. Naked Science Forum
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  3. Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology
  4. Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
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Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?

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Offline EvaH (OP)

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Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
« on: 19/11/2018 10:25:43 »
Ian wants to know:

I get irritated by the phrase "We traveled in time but not in space".

Given the world is spinning and is orbiting the sun and the sun is moving in our galaxy and so on... if I moved back in time 24 hours, how far would the place I started from have moved? Assuming traveling through time does not maintain my momentum etc.

Is it theoretically possible to achieve absolute stillness? (I think every location is relative so you can't)


What do you think?
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Offline Bill S

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Re: Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
« Reply #1 on: 19/11/2018 10:50:12 »
Quote
We traveled in time but not in space

Who says that?

Wouldn't it be something if I got an answer!
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Offline Halc

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Re: Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
« Reply #2 on: 19/11/2018 12:07:53 »
Quote from: Ian
Is it theoretically possible to achieve absolute stillness? (I think every location is relative so you can't)
That's the standard view, but it means that for any two events (like you being in bed at midnight two days in a row), there is a frame in which both those events are at the same location in space.  You would have achieved stillness (not to be confused with absolute stillness) if you had not accelerated at all during the 24 hours between those two points (or if your worldline between those two points was straight, not curved).

Yes, it is possible to do that, but you would need to find a way to cancel all forces acting upon you so you have a net acceleration of zero.  I don't think that's ever been done.

'Absolute stillness' implies an absolute location, so in addition to not accelerating, you'd need to stop first, but you said you think location is relative, not absolute, which is the prevailing view.

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Assuming traveling through time does not maintain my momentum etc.
Your momentum would be zero in that frame, so preserving it is not an issue.

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if I moved back in time 24 hours, how far would the place I started from have moved?
I can't talk about the rules of traveling backwards in time since there is only the one rule of not-happening.  If some story has that sort of time travel in it, it has already thrown physics to the wind (much like Star Wars for instance), so there's little point in trying to salvage minor details like the one in this thread.
« Last Edit: 19/11/2018 12:20:21 by Halc »
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Offline Bored chemist

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Re: Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
« Reply #3 on: 19/11/2018 19:19:28 »
Quote from: Bill S on 19/11/2018 10:50:12
Who says that?
Bad sci fi.
Is it possible to achieve absolute stillness?
No
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy


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Offline yor_on

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Re: Is it possible to acheive absolute stillness?
« Reply #4 on: 22/11/2018 22:18:03 »
I would say it depends on definitions, what are called 'frames of reference'.
All uniform motion, in my mind, are equivalent, no matter what speed you define, and to what relative your object of interest.
At he same time BC makes a excellent point, although I think of it as HUP.
When it comes to any rotating frame that's an acceleration.

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