Flying west over Scandinavia, it occurred to me that the aircraft was moving at almost the same rate at which time was changing across the path. This aroused my latent "Calculus and Analytic Geometry" that I had learned almost four decades ago, and I present to you what emerged after my grey matter was dusted off.
Let us say, you are at latitude L (say, in degrees). The circumference of this latitude is 2*Pi*R*Cos(L), where R (say, in miles) is the radius of the earth. The "speed of time" along this latitude is then (2*Pi*R*Cos(L))/24 mph.
If R = 4,000 miles, L = 60 degrees, the speed of time = 523 mph, which was almost the ground speed of the aircraft.
If the aircraft were flying over the equator, the aircraft speed for time to stand still would be double the value computed above. So, it will be 1,046 mph.
This simplistic analysis assumes the earth to be perfectly round, and not wobbly, and the altitude of the aircraft is not considered. A "more curious George" may compute the relationships that relax these assumptions.
Pure silliness, isn't it?
Let us say, you are at latitude L (say, in degrees). The circumference of this latitude is 2*Pi*R*Cos(L), where R (say, in miles) is the radius of the earth. The "speed of time" along this latitude is then (2*Pi*R*Cos(L))/24 mph.
If R = 4,000 miles, L = 60 degrees, the speed of time = 523 mph, which was almost the ground speed of the aircraft.
If the aircraft were flying over the equator, the aircraft speed for time to stand still would be double the value computed above. So, it will be 1,046 mph.
This simplistic analysis assumes the earth to be perfectly round, and not wobbly, and the altitude of the aircraft is not considered. A "more curious George" may compute the relationships that relax these assumptions.
Pure silliness, isn't it?
2 comments:
I love those contemplation of yours. They are silly and yet they are true and cannot be disputed. Isn't that real beauty.
BTW this Rabindranath Tagore guy seems to have reached real high altitude in understanding the world.
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