🚀 go-pugleaf

Don Dueck <umdu...@CC.UManitoba.CA> wrote:

>> >apparent that, as an object approaches lightspeed, its mass approaches
>> >infinity.  Doesn't the Law of Conservation of Matter prohibit any gain
>> >or loss of mass?

>Well, I'm no astrophysicist, but from what I've been taught and actually 
>understand, an object really gains _matter_ (which is what I think you 
>are thinking 'mass' means) as it 

I don't think the object gains any matter, otherwise the mass of the
object would change.  It simply weighs more because the gravitational
pull generated by the increased speed of the object creates a larger
gravitational pull by the object on it's surroundings.  This increased
gravitational pull increases the objects wieght not mass.  Wieght =
Mass * gravity (9.81 plus or minus .01) on the surface of the earth.
And decreases as you move away from the surface of the earth.  So if
you wanted to loose some weight you could simply start living on a
mountain, or move to the moon when they built a space station out
there, because the moon's gravity is less than that of the earth.  The
law of inertia also plays into the appearance of gain of mass.

>approaches the speed of light, but it does gain _mass_.  That is, you 
>don't get bigger, but your atoms 'weigh' more.  Maybe I'm totally off, 
>but I believe it has more to do with the increasing energy needs to 
>accelerate an object as its mass increases (ie. more mass = more inertia 
>(ie. resistance to a change in motion) = more energy needed to accelerate 
>the object).  You would, theoretically, need an infinite amout of energy 
>to accelerate any material object to the speed of light. The Law of 
>Conservation of Matter states, roughly, that 
>matter (& energy) can't be created nor destroyed.  It does not, however, 
>say that the mass of that matter is constant.

>What makes it so hard to grasp, in my opinion, is that we're so used to 
>our little view of the universe.  It just seems ludicrous that time 
>should slow down the faster you go and that you should gain more mass as 
>well.

Well, actually time doesn't slow down, as you approach speed of light,
you are sort of passing through time (time traveling into the future).
Theoretically, if you reach lightspeed, the object would then exist
everywhere at the same time, making it possible to travel to any given
time period.  (I'me sure this last bit doesn't make much sense, as I
am not a physicist, but a comp. sci. major).

>I hope I've shed a little light on the subject.  I'd be interested in 
>further discussion, but perhaps this particular newsgroup isn't the place 
>for it.

true, this is not the correct place, but I had to make a few
corrections in your response.