Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Which clock runs slower relative to a clock on the North Pole, clock 1 on an air

ID: 1518415 • Letter: W

Question

Which clock runs slower relative to a clock on the North Pole, clock 1 on an airplane flying from New York to Los Angeles, or clock 2 on an airplane flying from Los Angeles to New York? Assume each plane has the same speed relative to the surface of the Earth.

I've looked at the answer to this question on the Textbook question, and on another expert Q&A and while I understand why Clock 1 travelling from NY to LA is running faster than Clock 2 travelling from LA to NY--at no point did anyone answer or explain how either clock relates to the clock on the north pole--which is the point of the question. I'm really stumped. I think that the true north pole revolves faster than a point on say, the equator, but I don't know for sure how that effects the North Pole clock's running speed itself. I want to sort of guess that Clock 1 is running slower than the North pole's clock, because it is moving in the opposite direction. Am I wrong or right? I'm not a physics natural; please help me.

Explanation / Answer

The lack of an official time zone in Antarctica is not a problem, since nobody lives there permanently... Anyway, because of the scientific stations tehere, a number of countries do operate research stations in the continent and, to make things convenient for the researchers and visitors, each research base determines the time zone it wants to operate in.

Since most of its territory lies below the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica experiences 24 hour of sunlight during the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter.

This makes having Daylight Saving Time pointless for the continent, but stations that synchronize their time zones with ones that follows DST set their clocks when the time zone they follow starts or ends DST.

Conclusion: at the exact Geographic North Pole it could be any time within the 24 standard time zones of the Earth.

Airplanes issue:

The flights of the airplanes are related with the rotation of the Earth around its axis, which is happening from west toward east. The same for its atmosphere. This rotation creates winds in it, the so-called "jetstream" in aviation.

It depends on the latitude of the flight. At mid latitudes (~30 deg latitude) both above & below the equator, the prevailing winds are predominantly, but not exclusively westerly. At lower latitudes (closer to the equator) the reverse is the case. At high latitudes (above ~ 60 deg) the winds are predominantly easterly; here they are not obstructed. Hence they flow at very high speed reaching up to 367-370 kmph.

Just like a boat going upstream will be slower than downstream due to the direction of water.

From this point of view, the N pole may be a reference.

On long distances (e.g., crossing the Atlantic), this gives noticeable effects.

.

Hire Me For All Your Tutoring Needs
Integrity-first tutoring: clear explanations, guidance, and feedback.
Drop an Email at
drjack9650@gmail.com
Chat Now And Get Quote