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 0:42
>>6 As for the main problem, yes, both viewpoints are equally valid, but since the clocks were both in the same reference frame, they will both read the same once the train stops.
This doesn't make sense. The observer on the platform sees them set the clocks to 12:00 at DIFFERENT times, hence the clocks will read different times from the observer's point of view. You say yourself that the clocks won't resynchronize, so how on earth will they read the same time when the train is stopped?
You basically just said the same as I said in >>2. But you're saying it's wrong?