what makes light travel at 186000 miles per second?

Answer 1

Nothing makes light travel at that velocity.

The velocity of light is a property of of all electromagnetic radiation. It's velocity is inherent in it's nature. It travels at that velocity (2.99792458 × 10^8 meters or about 186,000 miles per second) because it is light.

This question is similar to what makes the void of space the coldest known temperature known? The void of space contains nothing to move, nothing to vibrate. Temperature is a measure of the vibration and movement caused by heat.

Answer 2

Your question, more accurately expressed, would be, "What makes light travel at 299,792,458 meters per second?" And the answer is, "because that's the definition of the meter." See the Wikipedia reference.

The fact that it does is one of the most fundamental things about our current understanding of physics. Much depends on that. But I can't explain why a photon always travels at that speed and why it is independent of frame of reference, unlike the motion of any particle with mass. Or why the interplay between the changing electric and magnetic fields that forms an electromagnetic wave happens to propagate at that speed.

If your question is, "Why did God choose that particular speed?" then I'm at even more of a loss to answer it.

Answer 3

Actually it is somewhat misleading to think of light as having a speed in the normal sense of the term. In effect light travels at infinite speed and exists simultaneously at all points along its route and occupies no time doing it. The reason we see light as taking an amount of time to cover an amount of space is because of the 'shape' of space-time. So from our point of view the far end of the journey exists at a slightly different time from the near end and seems to travel to us as time runs forward. And so the 186000 miles / sec is due to how much space-time is curved.
As to why space-time is curved to that exact shape, I don't know.

Answer 4

Ah well. as you increase the energy applied to an object in motion it approaches the speed of light(C) but cant reach it, the extra energy goes into mass(E=MC2) there is a luminary speed barrier there. If the object has no rest mass(A tough concept) it must go at the speed of C in a vacumm/ in matter physicall parts can go faster than the speed of light in the medium(Water for example) and they tend to release energy in a forward cone in whts known as cerenkov's radiation(The blue glow around a water mediated reactor). There is powerful mojo asociated with the speed of light and it is deep doodoo indeed. when you feel like you are beginnig to understand it look into Bell's inequality and you will never be the same

Rob

Answer 5

Light is weightless so it doesn't need anything to make it travel at that speed. In fact it can only travel at that speed. To emit light, electrons in atoms drop to a lower energy level. The energy they lose in doing so is released as a photon which is a particle of light.

Answer 6

There are many constants in physics, like the speed of light, that have no explanation as to their actual value. Theories are built with equations that leave these constants as parameter that must be determined by measuring them in the lab. One of the goals of physics is to minimize the number of such parameters by coming up a more fundamental theory in which as many of their values as possible end up being derived from the theory instead. Improved measurements are still useful, though, but to test the theory.

Answer 7

Bcoz, light is electromagnetic in nature. All electromagnetic waves, travel at 186,000 mi/sec or 300,000 km/sec in vacuum.

N.B. The speed of light slows down as it passes through matter.

Answer 8

It can't travel any slower - light particles (photons) have no mass. Its actually closer to 186,282.397miles per second - nippy eh.

Answer 9

the system of units used

Answer 10

I think you mean what causes it to travel at all?

Answer 11

Definitely science.