It was stated that C = The Speed Of Light. Right?

Question

It is repressnted by C because it is a CONSTANT, so then how can it VARY? What causes it to VARY its speed?
Alright. I am NOT a scientist, so sorry if this question is worded incorrectly.

Answer 1

As most of your answerers have said correctly, c represents the speed of light in vacuum, where it is about 186,000 miles per second. However, in matter, that speed can be slowed down...sometimes, waaaaaaay down. Check out this exceprt:

"An entirely new state of matter, first observed four years ago, has made this possible. When atoms become packed super-closely together at super-low temperatures and super-high vacuum, they lose their identity as individual particles and act like a single super- atom with characteristics similar to a laser.

Such an exotic medium can be engineered to slow a light beam 20 million-fold from 186,282 miles a second to a pokey 38 miles an hour."

Lest you think this came from the "National Inquirer," think again. Take a look at the source below.

Answer 2

Does it vary? Where did you come up with that? c Is the speed of light in a vacuum. Not just the speed anywhere. It is a constant.

Answer 3

c is the speed of light in a vaccuum, yes. The true speed of light never varies, but it can appear to do so. What happens is that light is absorbed by whatever it passes through and is then released. That takes a tiny amount of time and thus it would take longer for a light beam to cross a distance in water than it would in space.

Answer 4

c stands for latin celeritas meaning "swiftness" or "speed". c is the light speed in vacuum. it's not a measurement or speed, actually it's definition, a constant. c is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second. Although any light travelling through a medium other than a vacuum travels below c, as a result of refraction. And light has even been "frozen" - it has been decelerated till the speed of 0 m/s

Answer 5

It's actually lower case c, but the variable c was chosen when the speed was originally derived, and its only recently that scientists have come up with theories about the variable speed of light. Here is an article about it:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6092
and a wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_speed_of_light

Answer 6

The letter c (lowercase, by the way) is often used to represent the invariant speed of light *in a vacuum.* Passing through substances like air, water, various gases, etc., can cause light to move at different speeds.

Answer 7

The speed of Light c, around 300.000 kilometers per second , is meant in "vacuum". Probably they did not explain it very clear in the teachings. Because the speed is lower in another medium such as Water, Glass etcetera. The constant c is only in "vacuum".

Answer 8

C can also mean heat capacity or coulomb too but constant can be represented with a K. but it vary with what ur actually working with cause each of them come from different braches like heat capacity comes from thermal phisics and coulomb is the unit for charge from electricity .

Answer 9

c does represent the speed of light in a vacuum. Light travels slower in other mediums such as air and glass and there is some equation with C in it to determine that speed.

Answer 10

The speed if light is a constant, meaning it never changes. The only situation which would cause the speed of light to change, is if it was absorbed by a black hole. The gravitational pull from a singularity (a dead star that has created a black hole) is so strong not even light can escape it. Light being sucked into this black hole would actually travel faster then the speed of light, but that is the only known instance that exists in science today.