two people are on a train, they will set their clock, on opposite ends of the train, to 12:00 when a flash is seen emitted from a bulb at the centre of the train, equidistant from each person. An observer watches from a platform, and says that the two events of setting the clock were NOT simultaneous while another observer says that they were. Since each viewpoint is equally valid, when the the people step off the train, what will their clocks actually read? is there a discrepancy or not?
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Anonymous2006-08-14 16:33
I started to think about what would happen if the stationary observer watched the clocks the whole time, but the I realized; he can't!
Sure he can. The clocks can send out radio signals to indicate their current time, and he can correct the flight time of the signal to figure out what time they were showing when the signal was sent.
It's not a matter of when he SEES the clocks get set; it's a matter of when they ACTUALLY get set. This does not have to do with his observation; from his reference point, they get set at different times. It doesn't matter whether he ever sees them at all.