Abstract

Utilizing only the principles of equivalence and conservation of energy, the customary equations for the slowing of clocks due to motion are derived. It is shown that clocks slow proportionally to a Galilean transformation of the energy of the clock system from the initial rest frame of the clock to the new, moving inertial reference frame. Utilizing the same reasoning for the case of increasing gravitational potential, the customary equations for the slowing of clocks in a gravitational field are derived. This analysis, applied to the radiation continuum model of EM radiation, results in the correct equations for the time delay of a solar grazing light or radio signal. By considering the characteristic frequency absorbed or emitted by a hydrogen atom, it is demonstrated that only motion relative to the rest frame in which a clock is calibrated causes slowing. Thus if two observers initially in motion with respect to each other each construct identical clocks, at rest in their own inertial frames, the clocks will record identical time. If either clock is then placed in motion relative to the inertial frame in which it was calibrated, it will slow according to the energy considerations associated with this motion. A thought experiment involving riders on two trains exchanging and comparing the readings on atomic clocks explains the so-called "twin paradox" without resorting to either SRT or GRT. The derived equations are used to successfully analyze the Hafele-Keating traveling clocks experiment, and to illustrate a flaw in pulsar timing algorithms.