The awesome speed of light!

[AlexGTV]

Yes, the numbers are great but visualization is even better!

Firstly, below you see the distance light travels in one second.

Now, as you might know the faster you move the less time you experience, relative to a slower reference frame, known as time dilation and discovered by Einstein. So, F1 drivers age some milliseconds less because they move faster during races and practice.

To put it simply, if A moves faster than B then A travels to the future of B.
How much into the future? You can see on the below diagram.

At the knee of the diagram for A to experience 40% of the time of a stationary B, he needs to travel at about 85% the speed of light, or go to the moon within a couple of seconds.

At those speeds one can travel to distant stars within a lifetime (remember time dilation!) and if we are to talk about a Star Trek scenario of a spaceship travelling at 99.9% of the speed of light then a trip to another galaxy is a matter of mere hours!
If someone from earth could peak throught that spaceship window while it is travelling at that speed everything would seem frozen, while of course inside the ship everything is normal.

 

[kennylmao]

If someone from earth could peak throught that spaceship window while it is travelling at that speed everything would seem frozen, while of course inside the ship everything is normal.

Are you sure? Wouldn't it be streaks of white lines zooming pass as you reach WARP SPEED!!!

 

[Emptyone]

Ah, it is true you could get to Andromeda for example in around 6 years, however time dilation due to special relativity works both ways. For you the round trip may be 12 years, but for time on Earth it would actually take 6 million years for you to travel there and back, remedying it as an effective means of transport across galaxies rather pointless.

 

[AlexGTV]

Ah, it is true you could get to Andromeda for example in around 6 years, however time dilation due to special relativity works both ways. For you the round trip may be 12 years, but for time on Earth it would actually take 6 million years for you to travel there and back, remedying it as an effective means of transport across galaxies rather pointless.

Yes, wormholes are the hope for in effect great than light speed. But the light speed is not violated because that is a local law.

 

[acascianelli]

The nearest galaxy is about 2,000,000 lightyears away. I don't know where you guys are getting the travel time to be a matter of hours, or 6 years. The nearest star is still 4.3 lightyears away.

Star Trek get around time special relativity problems by placing the ship into a "sub-space" bubble, where the space in front of the ship is contracted and behind the ship is expanded. Allowing the ship to stay stationary within the subspace bubble while ridding the wave of contracting/expanding space to relative speeds beyond the speed of light.

Unless we figure out how to create an Alcubierre drive or harness wormholes in space, we'll probably never travel farther than local planets. Another factor to consider when traveling at speeds close to the speed of light is that as your speed approaches the speed of light, mass also increases to infinity. Thus you will require more fuel to produce more energy to accelerate.

 

[Emptyone]

Yes, wormholes are the hope for in effect great than light speed. But the light speed is not violated because that is a local law.

Ah but we have the maths to create wormholes, but were lacking the exotic matter, just a little bit. Or we could do with an infinite cylinder. One of those things

EDIT: I guessed someone would ask about the shrinking of time. Basically, as you get close to the speed of light, an effect called time dilation happens, in which distances relative to you and the speed you travel shrink. This increase exponentially as you get closer to c (speed of light)

 

[Famine]

The nearest galaxy is about 2,000,000 lightyears away. I don't know where you guys are getting the travel time to be a matter of hours, or 6 years. The nearest star is still 4.3 lightyears away.

Relativistic time dilation - the person experiencing 0.999c speeds experiences a few millionths of a percent of the time that elapses for an external observer.

 

[dhandeh]

Ah, it is true you could get to Andromeda for example in around 6 years, however time dilation due to special relativity works both ways. For you the round trip may be 12 years, but for time on Earth it would actually take 6 million years for you to travel there and back, remedying it as an effective means of transport across galaxies rather pointless.

I had my suitcase packed untill I read this.

 

[AlexGTV]

I had my suitcase packed untill I read this.

Ahaha!

 

[sesselpupser]

Relativistic time dilation - the person experiencing 0.999c speeds experiences a few millionths of a percent of the time that elapses for an external observer.

I do wonder if there are any subjects this man doesn't know at least one fact about.

 

[acascianelli]

Relativistic time dilation - the person experiencing 0.999c speeds experiences a few millionths of a percent of the time that elapses for an external observer.

Thanks.

Wasn't thinking enough. Guess I should have took out my AP Physics notebook out before I opened my mouth.

 

[AlexGTV]

Thanks.

Wasn't thinking enough. Guess I should have took out my AP Physics notebook out before I opened my mouth.

Don't worry, this is as unintuitive as it gets. It's just that everyday speeds are nowhere near the speed of light so the time dilation effects are essentially null.

 

[photonrider]

You would think that this really doesn't effect us, but it does: the last tracks on a vinyl record (and the beginning tracks on a CD) are the first ones to deteriorate. Can you figure out why? The same reason clocks at the Poles go awry.

 

[Ellis]

I find this sort of stuff so interesting despite my lack of knowledge in it. I do understand Einsteins theory (the basis of it) though.

 

[RTSolvalou]

So in other words, traveling above the speed limit is good for my health, even if only a poofteenth.

 

[AlexGTV]

So in other words, traveling above the speed limit is good for my health, even if only a poofteenth.

No, you age normally. What happens is you get to the future (a tiny bit) of those that drive modestly.

 

[W3H5]

Einstein was wrong a lot of the time any how. Why would his formula E=MC2 be squared when we live in a three dimensional universe, shouldn't it be cubed? (E=MC3)

Food for thought, or more crap for Famine to disprove. You decide.

 

[AlexGTV]

Einstein was wrong a lot of the time any how. Why would his formula E=MC2 be squared when we live in a three dimensional universe, shouldn't it be cubed? (E=MC3)

Food for thought, or more crap for Famine to disprove. You decide.

But when he was right he was big time!

If you know basic calculus you will understand this proof:



Most revealing is this excerpt from Wikipedia, "In natural units, the speed of light is defined to equal 1, and the formula expresses an identity: E = m."

 

[Watt2159]

Dear god I hate math.......

 

[W3H5]

If you know basic calculus you will understand this proof:

If I had basic internet access I might be able to see the clip.

 

[Emptyone]

Einstein was wrong a lot of the time any how. Why would his formula E=MC2 be squared when we live in a three dimensional universe, shouldn't it be cubed? (E=MC3)

Food for thought, or more crap for Famine to disprove. You decide.

E=MC2 is only for particles which aren't moving, which are particles at rest. The equation gets a little bigger when things start moving around. Just thought I'd point that out, it's a misconception.

 

[W3H5]

I was just messing around. My knowledge of physics isn't too bad.

 

[wfooshee]

If you think this relativity stuff and time dilation is "So what? How can that possibly affect real life?" then turn off your GPS. You're not allowed to ever use it again.

 

[Emptyone]

I was just messing around. My knowledge of physics isn't too bad.

Ah I see that now, never mind, doesn't hurt to put it up so other people can see if they're confused