Is the Speed of Light a RATIONAL, or IRRATIONAL Number?

Question

(Cannnot be expressed as fraction!)?

Famous, highly relevant numbers are everywhere.

Square root of 2
Base of Natural Logarithms
Pi

AND THEY are IRRATIONAL NUMBERS.

But what about

c = the speed of light.

IS C A RATIONAL NUMBER?


Additional Details

C = The speed of light
has been shown to be a Universal Constant.
WHAT KIND OF NUMBER IS IT?

Is there any sort of proof, or has any research been done - Mathematically, or in Physics?

Additional: WHAT KIND OF NUMBERS ARE

THE SO MANY

UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS.

(G, Plancks, etc.)

Fhree

ASSUME A VACUUM

Answer 1

The type of number that you get will depend on the system that you set up. For instance, you could base everything around the speed of light, and call that 1. In this case, c is not only real and rational, but is even a counting number.

I think what you are hitting at though, is what is c in our standard system of meters and seconds? In this case it is STILL a Counting number (299,792,458 meters per second to be exact). Why? Because this is how the metric system is defined.

If you wonder though, what about a different system where the speed of light is not just defined. I wonder if this even has an answer, because the answer will depend on observation. Let's say we observe the speed of light going 186,282.3960 miles per second, and we are even sure til the last 0 that this correct. And with each observation, we get another 0 past the decimal point. Now we might have: 186,282.3960.00000 miles per second. We might be tempted to call this a rational number, and it is, as far as we can see. That is the problem with observation and rational numbers; observation always gives a rational number. Returning to the example, who is to say that maybe with the next observation we will find that it is 186,282,2960.000003. This is still a rational number, but suddenly all those 0's in the middle are not so reassuring. One starts to get the feeling that maybe it will not be a rational number after all. Of course, after that 3, maybe it does repeat 0's forever (or 3's forever!), but only observation can tell, and observation is never infintely precise.

Answer 2

It's neither, because it is not a number.

c is not a number because it contains units. You could devise a system of units where the value of c is either rational or irrational **in that system**.

It's important for anyone studying science to understand that quantities like velocity, distance, time, mass etc. are not just numbers but have units in addition to the number.

Answer 3

A rational number is one which can be expressed in the form P/Q where P and Q are integers and Q is not equal to zero.

Since speed is distance/ time and as both can be meaured as integers and time being not equal to zero, speed of light is a rational number.

Answer 4

Speed of light is a rational number. Its value is 3,00,000 Km/s (approx.). It is a Universal Constant as it is the limiting velocity of our universe. Nothing can go beyond the speed of light. It exact measurement has been taken in Laboratory.

Answer 5

The speed of light is a rational number, equal to exactly 299,792,458 metres per second.

Answer 6

it changes because light travels through the vacuum of space at 299,793 km per second (which is 1,079,252,960 km per hour); or 186,282 miles per second (which is 670,619,880 miles per hour). The speed of light is not constant; it travels about 3 percent more slowly through air and much more slowly through glass or water.

Answer 7

Rational.

299,792,458 meters per second.

Answer 8

Can u simplify it