Question on speed of light? (Page 3): Winner, truest and funniest post, 2013. :thumbup:...

Gnslngr

lighthouse wrote:

Not sure if you have ever noticed or not, but this is not really the place to look for rocket scientists!!! LOL

Winner, truest and funniest post, 2013. :thumbup:

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

jerryc41 wrote:

Einstein wondered the same thing. Light travels at the same speed. Period. You can't "catch up to it" or outrun it. If you were riding a beam of light with your car, the headlights would still shine out in front of you.

Not true Jerry. Light is not shifted or distorted in frequency for things within your frame of reference. Any light attempting to shine forward, by definition would be attempting to travel faster than light's speed limit and thus compressed. Your headlights will not function due to the fact that this light is attempting to leave the frame of reference. Neither will radar or any other means of obstacle avoidance instrumentation.

Startrek's premise is that space itself is warped and the vehicle remains at sub-light speed within it's frame of reference for travel at or above WARP1. Both Rodenbury and the subsequent producers of this series have consulted the brains at JPL and Berkley so they do not violate the laws of physics.

We used to argue these types of physics questions with physicists and mathematicians during lunch at Bell Labs. As any object approaches the speed of light, it gets infinitely longer, loses height and width and the dimension of time slows as well as it's mass increases to approach infinite. The object essentially starts looking like a beam of light when observed from outside reference.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Wellhiem wrote:

Yes it is a hypothetical question but I think you're confussing hypothetical with rhetorical.

OK. Hypothetically, if you were going faster than the speed of light and turned on your headlights, you would not see the light because you would traveling faster. It would be like a jet traveling faster than sound. The sound is behind the jet.

Sweet Willie Loc: Texas

There once was a fellow named Wright
who traveled much faster than light.
He left one day
in a relative way
and returned the previous night.
Unknown

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

jerryc41 wrote:

OK. Hypothetically, if you were going faster than the speed of light and turned on your headlights, you would not see the light because you would traveling faster. It would be like a jet traveling faster than sound. The sound is behind the jet.

Now you've got it Jerry. :thumbup:

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

singleviking wrote:

Not true Jerry. Light is not shifted or distorted in frequency for things within your frame of reference. Any light attempting to shine forward, by definition would be attempting to travel faster than light's speed limit and thus compressed.

My answer was based on a series I recently watched, "The Elegant Universe," narrated by Brian Greene. He specifically referred to Einstein's idea of riding a beam of light. The conclusion was that light travels at the same speed, regardless.

Radioman Loc: Ontario Canada

Cameoblue wrote:

I realize that this was almost answered in the topic "Focusing to Infinity" but not quite. If a person could drive a car at night at the speed of light and turned on the headlights, what would happen? Could they see ahead of themselves? What if they were traveling faster than the speed of light, would the results be different?

If they tried to take a picture would they get an image?
So many questions, so many possibilities, I'm so confused.

There is a book that may help answer your questions, written by "George Gamow" that was originally published as 'Mr Tompkins in Paperback' and has recently been re-published as 'The New World of Mr Tompkins'. I have just checked the bookstores and found, to my surprise, that the cost has increased almost at the speed of light, now being over $100.00.
I suggest that you try your local library.

Mr. Tompkins is a man who wanders into a university lecture hall while the theories of relativity are being taught. He drops off to sleep and this book relates his dreams in a world where the speed of light is 30 miles per hour.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Sweet Willie wrote:

There once was a fellow named Wright
who traveled much faster than light.
He left one day
in a relative way
and returned the previous night.
Unknown

Maybe he's unknown because it's impossible.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

Radioman wrote:

There is a book that may help answer your question... (show quote)

Mr. Tompkins was a SLOW LEARNER. LOL
Unless you achieve a means to fold space, the speed limit of light will remain unbroken.

Dlevon Loc: New Jersey

Cameoblue wrote:

I realize that this was almost answered in the topic "Focusing to Infinity" but not quite. If a person could drive a car at night at the speed of light and turned on the headlights, what would happen? Could they see ahead of themselves? What if they were traveling faster than the speed of light, would the results be different?

If they tried to take a picture would they get an image?
So many questions, so many possibilities, I'm so confused.

If they were traveling faster than the speed of light, Then the light would be solid, and they'd smash into it! Maybe that'll confuse you more!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

singleviking wrote:

Mr. Tompkins was a SLOW LEARNER. LOL
Unless you achieve a means to fold space, the speed limit of light will remain unbroken.

Not even folded? :D

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

jerryc41 wrote:

My answer was based on a series I recently watched, "The Elegant Universe," narrated by Brian Greene. He specifically referred to Einstein's idea of riding a beam of light. The conclusion was that light travels at the same speed, regardless.

I own and read all of his books and know him personally Jerry. We've argued his premise of spacial prospective and string theory. His math works, but the concept of 9 to 13 dimensions has me reeling. Or maybe that was from the malt scotch. LOL. At least with my method of time travel using malt scotch, you don't approach infinite mass, except for the headache in the morning.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

singleviking wrote:

I own and read all of his books and know him personally Jerry. We've argued his premise of spacial prospective and string theory. His math works, but the concept of 9 to 13 dimensions has me reeling. Or maybe that was from the malt scotch. LOL. At least with my method of time travel using malt scotch, you don't approach infinite mass, except for the headache in the morning.

I accept their idea of 11 dimensions. Why not? Did you see him on Big Bang Theory?

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

jerryc41 wrote:

Not even folded? :D

Even in "folded space", the speed of light can not be exceeded. What you fold is the time coefficient of space itself. If you recall, Time did not exist before the BIG BANG, nor did matter or anything other than oscillations in string theory. The biggest question that should be resolved in physics today is the explanation of what DARK MATTER and DARK ENERGY are. They're trying to discover some explanation at CERN. You know anyone with a few billion dollars to spare for this research?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

singleviking wrote:

The biggest question that should be resolved in physics today is the explanation of what DARK MATTER and DARK ENERGY are. They're trying to discover some explanation at CERN. You know anyone with a few billion dollars to spare for this research?

I'd love to live long enough to see a breakthrough in that area. If I had a few billion to spare, it would go into photo equipment.