If I were to begin walking toward an object that is 1 mile away from me and stopped half way for 1 second then resumed walking at double the speed and walked half the distance again and again dobled my speed, and continued this process for eternity, would I not eventually be walking faster than the speed of light and never reaching the object?
2006-08-29 16:52:37 · 20 answers · asked by gizzardout 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It seems you are trying to definine a mathematical model where velocity v = 2^x m/s. In your model, the speed would go towards infinity, and thus would eventually be greater than the finite light speed c = 3*10^8 m/s.
Since you mentioned to object was a mile away, however, you would not even approach the speed of light before your journey was finished. I calculated you would be going 3686 ft/s = 2513 mi/h when you reached the one mile mark.
That said, your model has no bearing on reality. In real life, under our current understanding of the universe, there is no way to surpass the speed of light. That, of course, is just another mathematical model, albeit one much more in tune with our observations.
2006-08-29 17:04:19 · answer #1 · answered by Rachel S 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
THere are practical limits to things in the real world. You would never be able to keep halving the distance between you and an object without reaching a measurement error first.
As for approaching the speed of light, the practical limit is that a human being (even a star athlete on the juice) could not physically keep increasing their speed by walking past a certain very finite speed. The reason being that as speed of an object increases so does its mass, which means that it takes more and more energy to make it move faster. And the human being has only a finite amount of energy.
This last part is why the speed of light is upper limit of physical objects. Light can only go that fast because it has no mass, only energy.
2006-08-30 00:01:43 · answer #2 · answered by joseFFF 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Wow, not a bad question. I think you would end up walking faster than the speed of light, but considering you only walk half the way each time, you will never reach the object. If you've ever taken Calculus then you would know it is similar to limits.
Thanks, now I have a subject to debate with my classmates tomorrow.
2006-08-30 00:01:01 · answer #3 · answered by meta_slime 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are two distinct issues here: (1) being able to move faster than light and (2) the fact that any non-null distance can be halved and it takes non-null time to walk it , i.e, Zeno's paradox.
First issue: special relativity establishes that it is physically impossible to move faster than light (if you move faster than light, you go back in time).
Second issue: even if you cannot reach the speed of light, in reality you will still reach the target, just like an arrow which has to travel through an infinity of points between the bow and the target.
2006-08-30 00:07:55 · answer #4 · answered by quantum 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Interesting question. I believe the answer lies in the human's ability to move very short distances very quickly. In doing a little calculation with Excel and assuming the speed of light is around 670 million MPH & starting speed is 5 MPH, I figure that you would be moving a range of .00047 inches at the speed of light. The human body does not have the capability to discern this small of a distance. In other words, I can move 5280 ft at 5 MPH, 2640 ft at 10 MPH, 1320 ft at 20 MPH ... but when I get to moving just 1 ft, I have to move at 20500 MPH. The human body can't move that fast and still discern only 1 ft.
The way the problem is worded, I would say that no, the human body can't move at the speed of light using this method.
2006-08-30 00:08:04 · answer #5 · answered by mcfallsg 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A human being could not walk that far for that long, he would have to stop and rest sometime. A robot may be able to do that, or you can say that thoughts travel faster than the speed of light.
2006-08-29 23:57:23 · answer #6 · answered by poeticjustice 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
By the viewpoint of physics the maximum possible speed is that of light. Hence it is possible for any thing to move with light's speed. But biologically it is not possible for a humane body to walk with a speed greater than a certain limit.
2006-08-30 03:28:13 · answer #7 · answered by mhdsayeed19 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nobody can walk ,run as fast as light, But our Idea can fastest than faster , We can think any point of universe in half second.
2006-08-30 00:01:50 · answer #8 · answered by kamal....Dil se.. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you approach the speed of light time around you slows but it does not stop. You will get there eventually but by the time you do, the place you wanted to go might not be there anymore. Get it?
2006-08-30 02:49:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No one can walk at the speed of light.Even their is no mcreation in universe that traveling at the speed of light.It is founded by eintien
2006-08-30 00:10:21 · answer #10 · answered by Nice Friend! 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋