A Bet With My Father...?

Question

Dad says Milliseconds/Lightyears=Infinity, I say hes a flipping moron. PLEASE tell me who is correct, and if you wish, give a reason, BUT please resist the urge to spam random definitions of the term "infinity" without answering my question.

Answer 1

milliseconds = unit of time
lightyears = unit of distance (1 ly = distance light travels in one year)

You cannot compare these units any more than you can compare pounds to miles, or kumquats to gorillas.

Answer 2

I agree with you, he is a moron. A light year is a measure of distance, not time. It is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in one year. A millisecond is a measure of time only, unless you mean a light millisecond, then it could be a distance, I guess. If that is what you mean, then you are dividing a very small number (a light millisecond) by a very large number (a light year), which would divide out to be a VERY SMALL NUMBER indeed, and NOWHERE CLOSE to infinity......geez, I think you both are morons.

Answer 3

Milliseconds measures time and lightyears measures distance, so the ratio is some kind of speed. Perhaps he means that some speeds in excess of 186,000 miles/second are faster than the speed of light in a vacuum and technically impossible, therefore "infinity", so that makes you both right.

Answer 4

You're right and your dad is wrong, although I'm assuming that your question says Milliseconds / Lightyears = Infinite because it got cut off.

That's sort'a like saying seconds / miles = infinite.
infinite = 1 / 0

Answer 5

It is not infinite. No physically realizable entity can become infinite. But it is not sensible, either, being time divided by distance and thus a reciprocal speed.

Answer 6

I agree with you...i though infinity didn't have a definition...

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity
dont forget the points

Answer 8

I have not met your father so I cannot comment.