# Relatively speaking, what time is it in the center of the Earth?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-speaking-what-time-is-it-in-the-center-of-the-earth/638060>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 17, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-speaking-what-time-is-it-in-the-center-of-the-earth/638060 "2012-10-17T20:33:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-speaking-what-time-is-it-in-the-center-of-the-earth/638060/21 "2012-10-19T17:15:43Z")

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> [@filmore](#):
>
> Sorry for my poorly-worded OP. I was not wondering about clock time with timezones and such..

I was delighted to see your post and learn that you were not a complete ignoramus!

(Maybe just a partial ignoramus, like me.)

The post was clear; it was only the title that was a bit misleading, but fun anyway.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-speaking-what-time-is-it-in-the-center-of-the-earth/638060/22 "2012-10-19T18:47:46Z")

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Molten O’clock

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**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/relatively-speaking-what-time-is-it-in-the-center-of-the-earth/638060/23 "2012-10-19T21:32:19Z")

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> [@Kinthalis](#):
>
> So the difference in time at the center of the Earth, compared to someone at the surface would be very small… how about at the center of the sun vs at the surface? Would the difference still be negligible?

You can get a rough estimate of the time dilation factor via this expression:

T[sub]A[/sub] = (1 + GM/2Rc[sup]2[/sup])T[sub]B[/sub]

where A is at the surface and B is at the center. This expression assumes a Newtonian potential so it won’t work so well for things like neutron stars or black holes, but it does well enough for planets and stars.

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