Calculation of the timeshift
+4 6 Votes
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By seedy
- Calculation of the timeshift
- Created: Mar 3, 2008
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
- Flag this theory:
This is an attempt to provide a mathematical explanation for the timeshift between the island and the freighter - apologies if this has been produced previously. I simply don’t have enough time to keep up!!
If I time the rocket from Regina’s comment of ‘payload away’ until her expected moment of impact, we get 27s. Her first precise distance check is at 40km to beacon at 7s. Therefore, the rocket covers 40000m in 20s i.e. travelling at 2000m/s. If we work back from here (and making the obviously false presumption that the rocket was at max speed instantly), then we have an extra 7s (the first 7s of flight) at 2000m/s = 14km. Therefore, the freighter is a maximum of 54km from the island. The rocket was supposed to cover the distance in 27s but actually covered the distance in 31min (1860s). Therefore the island time is altered by a factor of 1860/27 = 68.888 (lets round up to 70). So how long would the chopper take to reach the island? The average speed of that type of chopper is 133mph. Covert that to m/s = 60m/s. To cover 54km (i.e. 54,000m) should take 54000/60=900s. This equates to 15min. If you then multiply this by the island factor i.e. 70ish = 1050min which equates to 17.5h. Which explains why the chopper was missing for so long (to those on the island anyway)!
Key characters
| Short Name | Full Name | Episodes | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desmond | Desmond David Hume | 2.23, 3.17, 4.5 | 851 |
| Sayid | Sayid Jarrah | 2.14, 1.9, 3.11, 4.3, 4.12 | 387 |
| Walt | Walter “Walt” Lloyd | 2.2, 1.14 | 345 |
Key episodes
| # | Title | Aired | Central character | Theories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.22 | Through The Looking Glass | 5-23-2007 | Jack | 1251 |
I can’t see how anyone has discredited this!!
The time difference between the island and the outside world is definatley not fixed (ie always 35 hours ahead or what ever) but as you say, on a ratio.
+1 for me, because it works !
I’m going to shove this under the nose of my friend Lojozz and he can tell me if it’s good or not. I’m useless with numbers. If he likes, I’ll come back with a +1!
+1 from me, good maths.
I think the island runs at the same time (or very close to) the rest of the world, I think the time dilation is a result of coming to or from the island.
Like there is some kind of bubble around the island that takes time to penetrate
Inside the bubble is where time is working differently, passing through it, one does not percieve it to have take any longer, but (using seedy maths) 15 min inside the bubble equates to 17.5 hours outside it.
The bubble would be where time runs differently, whilst you would not percieve it, 15 mins inside the bubble would equate to 17.5 hours outside the bubble.
I trust LJ’s math-brain.
+1 As promised.
Sorry for the similar post, I thought the first had been lost in a bad gateway!
Excellent work! +1
Nice attempt, but the fallacy in your logic occurs when you assume that the distance was covered in 31+ minutes. Did that rocket look like it had 31+ minutes of fuel? The rocket covered the distance in the 27s you observe, but WHEN it arrives is a different matter. We don’t have enough info to calculate the time difference, yet.
Food for thought - Daniel’s perception was that the rocket was arriving 30 minutes late. Doesn’t that mean the rocket was launched 30 minutes PRIOR to the time on the rocket’s clock? That’s a difference of more than an hour…
It depends which clock had the earlier time. I assumed that the rocket clock was 31 minutes slower than the island clock i.e. the rocket did only experience a 27s flight, but time on the island had advanced by 31 minutes. This tallies with Sayid’s comments on arriving at the freighter. He had only experienced a relatively short flight and was confused why the time of day on the freighter did not correspond with a 15 minute flight.
I think you are WAY over-thinking this.
In my experience writers do a great job of writing. Not so much the math for them. I think you are taking information that was necessitated by time and production constraints and using that information to calculate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. To your credit, though, you did it VERY well.
(Example of writers and math being a bad mix: Have you ever seen a sentence that tells you that such-and-such is 1000 times thinner than a human hair? How can you multiply “thinness?” What does ONE time thinner than a human hair look like?)
BTW, plus one for the effort and the math.
…and when did Daniel sync the two clocks?
Why, on the boat, of course. THE NIGHT BEFORE.
Then it gets very confusing, because one of the clocks would then have to travel to the island from the freighter. If the payload’s timing is out by 31 minutes in getting to the island, how would the first clock’s timing be altered due to it’s arrival via helicopter?
If I remember, the reading on the clocks was roughly 2.45 and 3.15. What does that relate to? Was that when Daniel signalled to send the payload? If that was the case then 2h45min passed before the payload reached the island (but there was a further 31 minute discrepancy between the two clocks). Or did he set it when he first reached the island? I think I’m going round in circles with this??