Question

Does motion affect the rate of a clock as measured by an observer moving with it? Does motion affect how an observer moving relative to a clock measures its rate?

a) Motion affects the clock's rate for both observers.

b) Motion affects the clock's rate only for the observer moving with it.

c) Motion affects the clock's rate only for the observer in relative motion.

d) Motion does not affect the clock's rate for any observer.

Answer 1

The rate of a clock is not affected for an observer moving with it, but is observed to be slower by an observer moving relative to it due to the effects of time dilation in special relativity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The effect of motion on the rate of a clock as measured by observers depends on their relative motion. For an observer moving with the clock, their shared velocity means they do not observe any change in the rate of the clock; time seems to pass normally.

This is because in their shared reference frame, normal processes occur as if at rest. However, for an observer in relative motion to the clock - meaning they are moving with respect to the clock - the rate of the clock is affected by time dilation, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory of special relativity.

According to this theory, as the relative velocity between the observer and the clock increases, especially as it approaches the speed of light, the observer will measure the clock to be ticking slower compared to a clock at rest in their own frame of reference.

To summarize, an observer moving with the clock will not detect a change in its rate (a), while an observer moving relative to the clock will measure its rate as slower due to time dilation effects (b).