General relativity predicts that time runs slightly slower in stronger gravitational fields — a clock near a massive object ticks more slowly than one far away.
General relativity predicts that time runs slightly slower in stronger gravitational fields — a clock near a massive object ticks more slowly than one far away. This calculator estimates that effect using the (non-rotating) Schwarzschild approximation.
At Earth's surface (M = 5.97×10²⁴ kg, r = 6.371×10⁶ m), for 1 second measured far away: t' = 1 × √(1 − 2×6.674×10⁻¹¹×5.97×10²⁴/(6.371×10⁶×(299792458)²)) ≈ 0.9999999993 s — an extremely tiny but real slowdown.
A prediction of general relativity that time runs slower in stronger gravitational fields — a clock closer to a massive object ticks slightly slower than one farther away.
It uses a formula based on the Schwarzschild solution, factoring in the gravitational potential (mass and distance from the center) to find the time dilation factor relative to a distant observer.
Yes, subtly — GPS satellites experience measurably different time rates than clocks on Earth's surface due to both gravitational and velocity time dilation, and this must be corrected for GPS to remain accurate.