alleryStart learning →How has time dilation been experimentally confirmed?
AComparing an orbiting atomic clock with one on Earth
BBy weighing a clock before and after a plane flight
CBy photographing a clock at different distances
DBy measuring the color of light from a stationary clock
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Comparing an orbiting atomic clock with one on Earth
1. Time dilation predicts that a moving clock should record less elapsed time than a clock at rest.
2. This was tested by sending an atomic clock into orbit and comparing its recorded time with a clock that stayed on Earth.
3. GPS satellites also must be adjusted to compensate for this same effect to give accurate positioning.
4. Weighing a clock, photographing it, or checking its color are not how this effect was tested.
5. So the orbiting atomic clock comparison is correct.
_Source: OpenStax Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 10 "Special Relativity", section 10.2 Consequences of Special Relativity_
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