Time dilation – Interactive

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On this page, you can explore time dilation interactively.

You will see something like this: You can select the velocity by the slider or by entering it into the velocity field. To enter the value, click the Enter button or press the Enter key.   Clicking the start button will send the spaceship away.  To the left, you can see “light” bouncing back and forth between two stationary walls, and in the spaceship, light is also bounced back and forth, but now relative to the moving spacecraft.

The start button turns into a Reset button after you have pressed it. I will now make the spaceship return to the starting point.

The Pause/Resume button does what it describes.

Underneath that, you can see the times ticking on in a linear fashion. Lines are connecting the corresponding ticks.

Then we have three clocks. One shows the proper time according to an observer who is seen as stationary,  one shows the time on the spaceship according to the stationary observer. Finally, one where both times are shown.

Up a level : The Theory of Relativity
Previous page : Time dilation
Next page : Length ContractionLast modified: Jun 8, 2025 @ 21:19