Active Physics

Relativity

The length traveled by the light is longer in the second frame of reference .

since the speed of light is constant in all frames of reference the time it takes in the second frame of reference to complete a cycle is longer than the time in the initial frame. If the mirrors are moving at a speed where gamma=1.4 the time difference is 2.73 µs.

In the frame of reference of the time clock, the time required to complete a round trip is independent of whether the mirrors are moving or not.

The difference in light pulse travel time between the earth's timers and the light clock's timers will decrease as the time clock's speed slows down and becomes closer to that of earth's.

The equation for this effect (time dilation) is Δt = γΔtproper where the proper time is the time in the frame of the light clock. for γ = 1.2 the time seen in the second frame should be 8.00 µs which agrees with the experiment when changing γ to 1.2.

If the time for the observer in earth's frame is 7.45 µs then using the same equation we get gamma to be about 1.12. When the program is used and 1.12 is used then the timing on the earth's frame is consistent with this.