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by jcranmer
2502 days ago
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The terminology as understood in physics is not the same terminology that you're using. The term "frame of reference" refers to how you have to set up the equations and how you define values, for example physical coordinates of a location. It doesn't change the actual predictions of the evolution of a physical system (and if it did, that's generally a good sign that the model is missing something!). For example, you can model gravity in Newtonian mechanics on the surface of Earth as a force that pulls all objects down at a constant 9.8m/s^2 acceleration. Or you can step off the planet, and model the entire Earth as a closed gravitational system, and measure the gravitational attraction between the mass of the Earth and the things on or near its surface using F=G * m_e * m / r_e^2. When you get to relativity, you discover that the problem is that spacetime is defined in such a way that there is no well-defined global "ruler" or "clock" that applies independently to all observers, so that 1 meter or 1 second for me on Earth is not the same 1 meter or 1 second on a spaceship travelling at 0.2c. What is independent to all observers is the speed of light in a vacuum, and from these two facts, you can in fact derive how to map the definitions of how your rulers and clocks would be distorted if you moved to a different reference frame. |
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