• Question: What would hypothetically happen to a clock travelling at light speed?

    Asked by TonyA to Huma, Jack, Lucy, Miranda, Peter on 17 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Miranda Bane

      Miranda Bane answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      If this could happen then nothing would happen to the clock. But if you were standing still and able to watch the clock the hands would stay still. If you started moving and sped up to the same speed as the clock you would see the hands start to move. Then they would move at normal speed when you were at the same speed as the clock.

    • Photo: Peter Boorman

      Peter Boorman answered on 18 Nov 2016:

      Hi Tony,

      Great question! The idea that clocks can change according to the speed of the ‘frame’ they are in, is all to do with Einstein’s theory of special relativity, and is called ‘time dilation’.
      Time dilation says that a clock travelling at a particular speed will appear to travel slower by an observer who is stationary, looking at the moving clock. For this reason, if the clock were travelling at the speed of light, the stationary observer would see a clock that wasn’t moving at all!

      Peter

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