Author Topic: how fast does light think light travels?(physics question) (Read 5682 times)

MrCoffee · « **Reply #75 on:** April 13, 2004, 09:51:05 PM »

Its like trying to describe something from multiple time dimesions and perspectives. However if someone pointed a flashlight from the back of the spaceship at earth, you would see it as a doppler shift in light depending on how fast the spaceship is traveling near the speed of light.

Otto · « **Reply #76 on:** April 13, 2004, 09:55:31 PM »

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Originally posted by Udie

Now let's take this to a new level and get small. Quatum mechanics!!!!! How do you see something that's smaller than a light wave?!?!?! quarks! Blueons! Spin 1, Spin 2 and Spin 1/2 particles!!

Udie.
According to Max Plank, the smallest anything can be in our Universe is 10(-33) centimeters. (AKA the Plank Length). An Electron is something line 10(-17) cm. So the Plank Length is sixteen orders of magnitude smaller than the largest know particle. The 'strings' in String Theory are supposed to be around 10(-30) cm.

Why can't anything be smaller than the PL? Max did a great job of explaining this but I'm not smart enough to understand it in detail. Basically, anything smaller could not be part of our Universes or in reverse effect anything in our Universe. Anything smaller than the PL could not be made of matter, could not be effected by gravity, could not have an electrical charge, could not be detected by a Photon of light, ect, ect.

No matter how advanced we became, as 'Carbon body lifeforms' we could never detect anything smaller.

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #77 on:** April 13, 2004, 10:42:19 PM »

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Originally posted by MrCoffee
If you were in a spaceship traveling near the speed of light and you flicked your flash light on. You would be able to see its light reflect upon some surface within your local space/time which would be everything within your spaceship that is traveling near the speed of light. This is because time slows down for the occupants of the vessel. An observer on earth would not somehow able to observe the spaceship at that perfect instant in absolute time because if he could that would be breaking the rules of time/covariance.

Huh?

Actually, if you set off the JATO's on your 68' Chevy Impala and accellerated to near light speed, then flicked on the headlights, the beams from the lights would travel out in front of you travelling away at the speed of light as measured from your frame of reference.

They would also be travelling at light speed away from someone who stayed behind at the side of the Arizona highway. The way both of you see the light travelling away at the same speed is because the time and distance change relative to the observer, but C is absolute.

The theory that your headlight beams travel away from you at C and that they travel away from the Arizona roadside at C is the reason we cannot travel faster than light speed.

Thrawn · « **Reply #78 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:27:50 PM »

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Originally posted by lasersailor184
Remember, perception doesn't change reality.

Tell that to Schrodinger's cat.

lasersailor184 · « **Reply #79 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:34:50 PM »

You guys have said that time slows down as you go faster.

You haven't said why though.

Udie · « **Reply #80 on:** April 13, 2004, 11:47:49 PM »

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Originally posted by lasersailor184
You guys have said that time slows down as you go faster.

You haven't said why though.

What holden said does. Time changes because the speed of light is constant.

AKIron · « **Reply #81 on:** April 14, 2004, 12:48:39 AM »

Looks like it's about time for the "there is no spoon".

lasersailor184 · « **Reply #82 on:** April 14, 2004, 07:08:50 AM »

First, no he hasn't.

Second, the speed of light is not constant. It's hard to measure but light varies some (not an incredible amount though).

bozon · « **Reply #83 on:** April 14, 2004, 07:18:20 AM »

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The humanity still waits for a genius, who will prove that time slowing while drinking (or stopping while you passed out) is it fact the same phenomenon, and that passing out is in fact equivalent to travel at light speed.

It is a well known fact that time slows down when you are bored. This is why a kettle takes forever to boil when you are staring at it. Joseph Heller suggested in catch22 that in order to prolong your life you need to stare into the ceiling and bore yourself. You have to be careful though not to bore yourself to death...

you can go faster then light - just not in vacuum. particles entering the atmosphere at very high speeds "find themself" moving faster then the light and creating a "light shockwave" (aka Cherenkov Radiation).

Bozon

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #84 on:** April 14, 2004, 07:29:35 AM »

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Originally posted by lasersailor184
First, no he hasn't.

Yes I have...

Experiments have shown that C is not additive. C is relative to all observers, and in order for that to occur, time frames must alter for each of those observers.

Second, the speed of light is not constant. It's hard to measure but light varies some (not an incredible amount though). [/QUOTE]

About as much as our ability to measure it maybe?

lasersailor184 · « **Reply #85 on:** April 14, 2004, 08:09:45 AM »

Remember, just because we haven't found anything that goes faster then the speed of light, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Plus you're wrong about the photon on the sun, the babe and in your eye.

Nothing can exist in more then one point in space at one time. The photon won't percieve being in the 3 places at the same time because it travels with a velocity. While it might not seem like it's moving, it won't realize it's on the bikini until 8 minutes after it realizes it's on the surface of the sun.

hitech · « **Reply #86 on:** April 14, 2004, 09:31:19 AM »

Anyone ever notice how speed of light problems are a lot light describing lag issues in AH? It all depends on your observation point, and hence there is more then one reality.

NUKE · « **Reply #87 on:** April 14, 2004, 09:58:17 AM »

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Originally posted by hitech
To alpha and back at light speed, would happen instantly and you would have not travled any distance from your perspective of light speed.I.E. Alpha and earth would apear to be at the exact same point in space along with everything else. Now if you stoped when you got to alpha,and took a smoke break, the universe would sundenly expand as you slowed down.

But the real trick would be knowing when to stop since time is not advancing and you percieve no movement, in fact asking the question when to stop even becomes difficult.

It sorta makes the idea of photon emiter and reciever seem very likly in my mind.

HiTech

Interesting. Think about it in terms of God and it could make sense that he could be everywhere at once and eternal (from his perspective) if he where always "traveling" at the speed of light.

mietla · « **Reply #88 on:** April 14, 2004, 11:51:43 AM »

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Originally posted by lasersailor184
First, no he hasn't.

Second, the speed of light is not constant. It's hard to measure but light varies some (not an incredible amount though).

what are you talking about. You can slow it down orders of magnitude. Just shine it through a glass to see 1.4 times slower.

mietla · « **Reply #89 on:** April 14, 2004, 11:57:03 AM »

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Originally posted by lasersailor184
Remember, just because we haven't found anything that goes faster then the speed of light, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Super luminal velocity in not excluded by relativity theory, the transition through C is. If you can generate a superluminal particle, it will remain super luminal, and if will take infinite energy to slow it down to C

Speed of light and a constant c have nothing to do with each other, other that light happens to travel at this speed in some circumstances.