Can you see the road up ahead?
2006-07-26 08:31:04 · 14 answers · asked by why 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Mr Quark...even if nothing changes, it sure would go by my window pretty dang fast.
2006-07-26 08:42:29 · update #1
Holy Crap!
Here is the REAL ANSWER from a PHYSICIST.
The principle at work here is that light travels at the same speed in a vacuum in ANY reference frame. This means that if you were travelling in space at the speed of light and turned on your car headlights they would shoot out from you at the speed of light.
The kicker is that to someone who you were passing at the speed of light would see your headlight also going the SAME speed!
It only seems to not make sense since we live so slowly in comparison. The way it is possible is that to the "still" person,
you and your car and reference frame are contracted.
I REPEAT, no matter where you are or what you do or how fast you go, the speed of light in a vacuum looks the same to you.
2006-07-26 09:58:46 · answer #1 · answered by PoohP 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No, you won't be able to see the road up ahead.
First of all, the lights would not even turn on. Right when you hit the knob to turn the lights on, a signal is sent at the speed of light to the headlights. If you're car is traveling at the speed of light, this signal will never reach the headlights. The signal will be stuck in the knob and it will never reach the headlamp.
Now let's say that somehow you were able to turn your lights on. The photons would just build up in front of your car and they would never leave the headlamps, since you're traveling at the speed of light
The simple answer is that matter cannot travel at the speed of light. You're car would never reach the speed of light. The best you could get is 99.9999999999....% the speed of light.
2006-07-26 16:46:50 · answer #2 · answered by Jatt 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Road? You can think of a road long enough to test this? :)
The speed of light is not infinte. Why does it take sunlight around 8 mins to reach earth? Why is there such a term 'light year'? Light speed is FAST, but does not equate to occupying all points of space at once.
I'm not sure if there's a term for it, but according to Star Trek science, it's called warp 10 (occupying all points of space simultaneously.) And it's also called impossible.
But that's just Star Trek nonsense. Pssh.
2006-07-26 15:44:09 · answer #3 · answered by V9 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One rule for Einstein's theory of relativity is that lengths contract as you near the speed of light.
What happens when you are "at" the speed of light however, is that everything has a length of zero.
To photons, the universe actually has no size at all. So to you, that road would shrink to nothing, and there wouldn't even be a road in "front" of you to illuminate. Everything is at the exact same point in space: the point at which you exist.
2006-07-26 15:35:04 · answer #4 · answered by ymingy@sbcglobal.net 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Discarding for the moment that it takes infinite energy to move something with non-zero rest mass at the speed of light, your restated question is "what is the universe like if you are moving at the speed of light?"
Time will be frozen for you. Your space-time interval will not change when moving at the speed of light. The space-time interval of everything remains constant in your frame of reference. There are no discrete events, therefore there is no sense of casuality; everything stays the same and nothing changes. Within your frame, nothing changes.
(Space-time intervals) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-time_interval#Space-time_intervals
You can't observe anything, you can't change anything in your frame of reference.
If somehow you could slow down from light speed (something prohibited by relativity also) the period you spent at the speed of light would have been zero in your frame of reference, therefore nothing happened while going at that speed. If your headlights were already on, all you would notice is a jump in the scenery and the light from your headlights propogating away from you just as it was before you hit the speed of light.
2006-07-26 15:39:42 · answer #5 · answered by Mr. Quark 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"One rule for Einstein's theory of relativity is that lengths contract as you near the speed of light.
What happens when you are "at" the speed of light however, is that everything has a length of zero.
To photons, the universe actually has no size at all. So to you, that road would shrink to nothing, and there wouldn't even be a road in "front" of you to illuminate. Everything is at the exact same point in space: the point at which you exist."
What he said
2006-07-26 15:36:29 · answer #6 · answered by Da9 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you turn on your headlights, you will bend the space/time consortium, and you will create a wormhole in the universe. Since you won't be able to brake quickly enough, you will be unable to stop before entering the wormhole. Once in, you will be exposed to all the secrets of time and space. You will be able to see all of the time continuum, and, if your vehicle is properly equipped, you will be able to travel at will among the different times and universe in existence.
Make sure to send a postcard!
2006-07-26 15:38:58 · answer #7 · answered by Mama Pastafarian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The light would project out of your headlights at the speed of light just the same. And yet, those beams of light wouldn't be going any faster either. It just happens.
The laws of physics kind of break apart when you deal with objects traveling at light speed--don't expect it to make a whole lot of sense. ;)
2006-07-26 15:35:18 · answer #8 · answered by P.I. Joe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the light will go twice as fast. same as if you are going backwards at the speed of light and you turn your lights on, the light will just sit there, in theory.
2006-07-26 15:41:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2006-07-26 15:34:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋