Why not 200,000 miles per second.
2006-08-05 03:01:05 · 25 answers · asked by Henry 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
OK sorry, 186,000 mps
2006-08-05 03:45:55 · update #1
See Michelson and Morley experiment that suggests the constancy of light speed.
Then take a Theorical physics PhD
2006-08-05 05:03:02 · answer #1 · answered by Riccardo L 1 · 3⤊ 2⤋
The speed of light was verified in the 19th century by the Michelson-Morley experiment. Being British, they made the measurement in miles per second. The Standard Internationale (SI) equivalent is just that, an equivalent, made by converting the miles per second figure into metres per second by simple arithmetic.
The accurate figure, to several decimal places has already been quoted, it is the 186,282 etc miles/sec, which is the round figure I remember from a time too remote to contemplate.
Although the speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant it does vary when light passes through another medium, eg water.
In other media it usually has a fixed speed in a given medium, but under certain circumstances it travels faster than it 'should'.
This results in an excess of photonic energy in the individual light quanta (photons).
When the light leaves that medium and attains its normal speed in the new medium the extra energy is given off as blue light known as Cherenkov radiation. This is sometimes seen at the surface of water in the cooling baths of nuclear power units.
2006-08-05 10:43:05 · answer #2 · answered by narkypoon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The speed of light is aprox.186000 miles per second . It was a calculated value by Roemer who made a measurement of light travel distance and time. He took the ratio and came up with that value.
Speed of light is a General term ,it can vary depending on the density of the medium its travelling thru.
Logic as per structure of the Universe being not homogenous implies that the speed of light could be trillions of multiple the speed of light measured by Roemer.
The statement that the speed of light is the same thru out the Universe has never been proven. And what is believed to day is really a leap of faith in science.
So your question is very inquisitive and has some validity.
2006-08-05 10:49:19 · answer #3 · answered by goring 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're late with your question. Einstein was trying to answer to the question "why is everything as it is?" and he got closest by creating the E=mc2 formula and theoretically discovering the connection between energy and matter. You should have asken him. But since you ask us then I must tell you that considering Einstein's theory if the light travelled faster then the photons carrying it would reach speed above the highest in the galaxy and they would turn into pure enrgy creating a big explosion and the light wave won't get anywhere! Hard to understand - read again!
2006-08-05 10:43:34 · answer #4 · answered by spokoman_goliath 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In metric units, c is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second. Note that this speed is a definition, not a measurement, since the fundamental SI unit of length, the metre, has been defined since October 21, 1983 in terms of the speed of light—one metre is the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. Converted to imperial units, the speed of light is approximately 186,282.397 miles per second, or 670,616,629.384 miles per hour.
2006-08-05 10:05:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it might be of interest to ask what happens when the speed is getting higher than 186.000 mps? Here you will find the reason for this particular speed number... But I can't asnwer the question.... Someone else can?
2006-08-05 10:22:47 · answer #6 · answered by Flying Dutchman 79 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it's a universal constant...
Or is it?
Experiments have been performed where a pulsed laser was shone into one end of a length of fiber optic conductor.... and light actually escaped the other end before it was shone in the first place?!?!
If My wooly brain recalls correctly, this was due to the generation of some kind of standing wave or something I didn't quite understand...
2006-08-05 11:00:59 · answer #7 · answered by nowyermessingwithasonofabitch 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's not 200,000 miles per second because it doesn't travel that fast, the correct speed is 186,000 miles per second.
2006-08-05 10:06:26 · answer #8 · answered by mike-from-spain 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question. No one knows the answer.
This question will eventually have to be addressed but physics doesn't have the tools to deal with any reliable verification yet.
All we have now are some interesting ideas that may or may not be useful models of how the universe works.
2006-08-05 10:07:05 · answer #9 · answered by Alan Turing 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first of all its 186,000 miles per second not 168,000
2006-08-05 10:04:31 · answer #10 · answered by Moneymike 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋