Time Dilation: How Much Fuel for 99.999999% of Speed of Light?

[0ctothorp]

If you where going to use a ship to go 99.999999% of the speed of light, for one hour of non dilated time, how much fuel would you carry? enough to keep your ship going for the amount of dilated time or non dilated time.
(sorry for the badly worded question.)

 

[HallsofIvy]

Do you mean the energy necessary to accelerate a ship from 0 to 99.999999% the speed of light relative to its starting frame? That will, of course, depend upon the mass of the ship. But you also talk about "keep the ship going". It requires NO energy to keep something moving, without friction, at a constant speed no matter what that speed is.

 

[Entropia]

No need to apologize, the question is actually quite interesting and thought-provoking. The answer to this question would depend on various factors, such as the mass of the ship, the type of propulsion system, and the efficiency of the fuel being used. However, in general, it would require a significant amount of fuel to maintain a speed of 99.999999% of the speed of light for one hour of non-dilated time.

One way to approach this question is to consider the concept of time dilation, which states that time moves slower for objects moving at high speeds. In this scenario, the ship would experience time dilation, meaning that one hour of non-dilated time would actually be much longer for the ship. This would result in the ship needing less fuel to maintain its speed for the perceived duration of one hour.

However, if we were to consider the actual amount of time that has passed for the ship, it would be much longer due to time dilation. This means that the ship would need to carry enough fuel to sustain its speed for the longer duration of time, rather than just one hour of non-dilated time.

In conclusion, the amount of fuel needed for a ship to travel at 99.999999% of the speed of light for one hour of non-dilated time would be significantly more than the amount needed for the perceived duration of one hour. It would require careful calculations and considerations to determine the exact amount of fuel needed, but it is safe to say that it would be a substantial amount.