Time Dilation Calculator

According to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, time runs slower for moving objects! This effect is called "Time Dilation." This app uses the GPS signal of your phone to calculate the time dilation effect you experience as you move around throughout your daily life.

Time Dilation is a very small effect - it only becomes noticeable when objects are moving close to the speed of light, approximately 671 million mph (or 1080 km per hour). While the effects of Time Dilation are very small at the slow speeds we typically travel at in our daily lives, the slowing of time is still present. For example, if you drive down the highway for an hour at a typical speed, time will have run slower for you (compared to someone on the ground) by approximately 0.02 nanoseconds, or 0.00000000002 seconds!

This app makes this strange effect of Relativity more noticeable by calculating these small time differences throughout the day, adding them up, and displaying them.

Features:

In Settings, you can have the data displayed in the app, including the time, GPS location, speed, and accumulated Time Dilation data. The data can be output as a text file, so you can analyze the data later.

You can also select a different value to use for the speed of light in calculations, such as the "speed of a bullet" or the "speed of sound". This will (artificially) enhance the Time Dilation effect, so you can imagine how large the time dilation effect would be if the speed of light were much smaller and more accessible.

You can also send a Facebook status update, which includes the amount of the Time Dilation effect you have accumulated. Note: You will need to set up Facebook text message updates in order to make Facebook status updates through the app.

Privacy:

Your GPS data is NOT shared with any server - the calculations occur directly on your phone. Your location information is not shared with anyone or anything by this app.

Developers:

This app was created by Yunxiao Zhai as a Physics Senior Capstone Project at Pacific Lutheran University, with assistance from Dr. Bret Underwood.