The puzzle of time — prediction worksheet
Name ______________________ Class ______________ Date __________
For each question: tick your prediction before you try the lab, and say why. Then run it and see.
A perfect clock moves past you at 0.87 of light speed. For every 2 ticks of your clock, how many does it make?
- ☐ 2 — a clock is a clock
- ☐ About 1 — it runs at half speed
- ☐ About 4 — motion speeds it up
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
Two lamps, far apart, flash at exactly the same moment for you. Someone flies past at high speed. For them, do the flashes still happen together?
- ☐ Yes — 'the same moment' is the same for everyone
- ☐ No — for them one flash comes first
- ☐ Only if they fly exactly between the lamps
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
Stack every moment of Flatland's history into one 3D block. In that block, what does the Sphere's visit look like?
- ☐ A circle
- ☐ A sphere
- ☐ A straight line
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
The gas has spread through the whole box. You reverse the velocity of every disc, exactly. What happens?
- ☐ Nothing special — it stays spread out
- ☐ It gathers itself back into the left half
- ☐ It gathers back partly, then gives up
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?
Two films start from exactly the same frame — same shape, same rate of change in every direction. You press play. Do they stay identical?
- ☐ Yes — same start, same future
- ☐ They drift apart, but only through rounding errors
- ☐ They genuinely diverge
Why do you think so?
What happened when you tried it?