The Speed Of Light

[bighead]

If you are driving a car at the speed of light. And then turn the headlights on what happens?????

I do not know the answer just heard some people talking about it today.


What do you think?

 

[B man]

nothing. the light rays would travel at the same speed as you.

 

[redsox985]

You would proceed into whatever light was reflected at you and not projected/reflected from your direct 6 o'clock. I believe. Could be a total lie, but I don't know.

 

[Russ2251]

No material object can travel at or beyond the speed of light.

 

[bighead]

If the car was moving at the speed of light. Would not the new light beam leave the car at the speed of light? Or would the light not even turn on? Would the light show in front of the car like normal?

LOL

If you shot a gun standing still. And then shot the same gun going 100mph. Would the bullet be traveling faster fired from the car going 100mph?

 

[sideways]

No material object can travel at or beyond the speed of light.

Russ, what happened to your question everything attitude?? Or have you tried to go faster than the speed of light?? :O

 

[bighead]

No material object can travel at or beyond the speed of light.

What about Superman?

 

[karl]

How about 299,792,457 m / s , 1 meter per second slower lol

 

[migel101]

i believe the lights would go on, but not shine forward. aka illuminate anything ahead of you

 

[Badot]

No material object can travel at or beyond the speed of light.

Einstein believed that the gravitational distortion of a black hole could be used to slingshot something to a speed faster than light... And this was before we even thought to do it with satellites and planets/moons which has now been done successfully multiple times. Problem is I think the nearest black hole is about 1600 lightyears away, so we probably won't ever get to see if he was right.

 

[devino246]

Russ is correct, the universal speed limit is the speed at which light travels. The closer you get to that speed, the slower time passes, thus preventing you from actually reaching it. Scientists have observed extremely short-lived atoms lasting longer at near-light-speeds in particle accelerators, proving the theory. Interestingly, several decades ago, scientists placed an atomic clock on a jetliner and flew across the country. When they reached their destination, the clock was several microseconds slow.

Einstein's theories aren't bullet proof, he was human just like the rest of us.

Ive been watching too much science channel

 

[Badot]

The nearest black hole is in the center of our galaxy, 26,000 light-years away...
Ive been watching too much science channel

Science Channel is out of date then!

http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/v4641/

And there's nothing to either prove or disprove Einstein's theory at the moment, at least that I'm aware of.

Also, as a side note, the slowing of time with speed is more easily observed in satellites, as they move a good bit faster than airlines and stay up there longer, enough to the point where clocks in satellites have to run at different speeds or else they will run off-sync.

 

[B.M.800]

I think its safe to say it wouldnt really matter, the way I see it if your going that fast you would be preoccupied with thinking about not dieing for the second or so your still alive...

 

[devino246]

Science Channel is out of date then!

http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2000/v4641/

And there's nothing to either prove or disprove Einstein's theory at the moment, at least that I'm aware of.

Also, as a side note, the slowing of time with speed is more easily observed in satellites, as they move a good bit faster than airlines and stay up there longer, enough to the point where clocks in satellites have to run at different speeds or else they will run off-sync.

Oh, wow. Edited!

 

[Badot]

My thoughts on the particles lasting longer in an accelerator -- not science, just reasoning:

Say a particle lasts twice as long in an accelerator as it should, at a bit under the speed of light... if it lasts twice as long from our frame of reference, that would mean that from the particle's frame of reference, everything but itself would be going at twice the speed, with it lasting as long as it should. Essentially we'd be watching the particle at 1/2 speed. If we're watching the particle at half speed, and we view it as going close to the speed of light, how fast is the particle actually going?

 

[devino246]

My thoughts on the particles lasting longer in an accelerator -- not science, just reasoning:

Say a particle lasts twice as long in an accelerator as it should, at a bit under the speed of light... if it lasts twice as long from our frame of reference, that would mean that from the particle's frame of reference, everything but itself would be going at twice the speed, with it lasting as long as it should. Essentially we'd be watching the particle at 1/2 speed. If we're watching the particle at half speed, and we view it as going close to the speed of light, how fast is the particle actually going?

Time-space is bent around a particle traveling near-light-speeds. Its viewpoint of time is the same, but we see it lasting longer.

Using the same principle, if humans could create a spacecraft that went 1/1000th of a mile per hour below light speed, they may experience a trip to that black hole and back as if it were 3600 hours while it would take 3600 years from our standpoint.

 

[gokart14]

i believe the lights would go on, but not shine forward. aka illuminate anything ahead of you

because like the gun example if u shot it going 100 the bullet wouldnt go out faster because the gun is still still and u could catch up to it

 

[bighead]

because like the gun example if u shot it going 100 the bullet wouldnt go out faster because the gun is still still and u could catch up to it

Not if you shot it standing still. Then shot it going 100mph. In a drag race of the bullets who would win? The standing still bullet? Or the bullet with a 100mph head start?

Like I said I have no clue of any of this. This whole thread is beyond my smarts. I love the Imax space movies though.

Time travel now thats a trip. What is the saying where if you traveled to the moon and back at the speed of light you would return an old man? Or everyone else would be old? Anyone remember that one?

 

[devino246]

Not if you shot it standing still. Then shot it going 100mph. In a drag race of the bullets who would win? The standing still bullet? Or the bullet with a 100mph head start?

Like I said I have no clue of any of this. This whole thread is beyond my smarts. I love the Imax space movies though.

Time travel now thats a trip. What is the saying where if you traveled to the moon and back at the speed of light you would return an old man? Or everyone else would be old? Anyone remember that one?

A bullet and the speed of light cant be compared. A bullet can go faster than it does when shot. The speed is determined by the gun, not a speed limit. Fire a bullet in front of a car moving 100mph and the bullet will be going faster than if your were standing still.

Its complicated and mind boggling. Thinking about it more just makes it more confusing.

Ive never heard that. You'd return in a few seconds and have aged less than if you'd have stayed on Earth.

While were on complicated topics, Ive been wondering something: How can you prove anythings(like your) existence? You'll be gone within a century. A witness wont work, they'll be gone too. A picture will eventually fade and be destroyed. A fossil will turn to dust when our sun becomes a red giant and eventually explodes. If you cant prove your existence, do you exist?

 

[Badot]

Time-space is bent around a particle traveling near-light-speeds. Its viewpoint of time is the same, but we see it lasting longer.

Yes... think of it this way... if the particle should exist for 2 seconds, and we see it as 4, that means that for every 1 second that passes in the particle's spacetime bubble, 2 pass in ours.

If we observe the particle as traveling... say 10 feet in 2 seconds, obviously it's moving at 5 feet per second from our perspective. (yes, that's absurdly slow, but the concept holds true)

But remember - for every 1 second for the particle, it's 2 seconds for us, and vice-versa. So to the particle, it travels 10 feet in 1 second, or 10 feet per second, twice as fast as we observe it.