If I drive my car through a corner slowly I’ll be fine. If I go fast, the car will skid off the road. All the materials are the same, the execution is the same. The only difference is over what amount of time this happens? The example is not important, the same goes for pretty much anything. Filling a bottle, ripping a sheet of paper..
I understand this from a intuitive perspective, but I wonder if someone can explain why time matters in physics in a simple way. What is the fundamental difference between doing something fast vs. slow.
I’m sure this is a silly question if you know some thermal dynamics or special relativity, but remember, I’m only 5!
In: Physics
Most, maybe all of physics is studying cause and effect, or the interaction between different types of phenomena. Without time those things don’t exist.
Another large part of physics is studying how different types of energy are transferred or transformed. A fundamental component of that is how much energy and how quickly, because that tends to affect the result. Whether you’re looking at the macro (object) or micro (molecular) level, the same amount of energy imparted over a longer vs shorter time can be the difference between the structure absorbing the energy vs the structure collapsing. There’s no deeper explanation for that other than that’s just how the universe behaves.
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