My car goes at the speed of light, if I turn on my lights, does the beam shine forwards, or stay in the lamp?

Answer 1

this question has no answer. your car will never go the speed of light because this is a violation of physical laws. what i mean to say is that if your car is in violation of physical law, then there can be no physics based response. as such, there is never going to be a time when this could ever be the case. anyone who provides an answer to this question doesnt know enough about physics to understand that its a trick question

Answer 2

1. The beam will shine forward at the speed of light relative to the car as the car is its Inertial frame of reference.

2. A car going at the speed of light does not contravene Einsteins theories.

Answer 3

The headlamp is a fixed object with reflector behind it...
So the beam will always be out in front at a fixed distance depending on the wattage of the lamp itself.
But travelling at that speed the distance of illuminanation from the headlamp would be utterly useless, you would need a much larger source of light to see where you are travelling!!!

Answer 4

should you ever manage to get a car to the speed of light ( this would require a near infinite amount of energy) then when you turned on the light it would shine forwards. this leads to the question, would it be going faster than the speed of light. if we have faith in currently assumed knowledge and apply this to this situation then the speed of light is constant and space and time will warp in order for the speed of light to remain that way. therefore yes the light would shine forwards. but to an observer it would shine forward but you would not appear to be travelling at the speed of light as time and space would warp around you.

all of this is pure hypothesis as it would be nearly impossible (and certainly is using current technology) to get a car to the speed of light.

Answer 5

Ahh the standard speed of light stuff.
You can't go at the speed of light so the question is meaningless but the answer you are looking for is that whenever you measure the speed of light in a vacuum by any means you will always get the same answer regardless of how it was created.

Answer 6

First thing is that in reality you can never go as fast as the speed of light. But and it's a big but, but if you could then it depends on who is observing.

From your point of view in the car, the light moves forward at the normal speed of light.

From a stationary observers point of view, as you travelling at the speed of light, both you and your car are frozen in time and therefore the light never leaves the lamp.

Answer 7

The only answer is the one already given: there is no answer because the question as a whole makes no sense. If your car goes at the speed of light you are outside the laws of physics and therefore they can offer you no answer. Since they are all we know, there is by definition no answer. Belief has nothing to do with it. I wanted to rate that other answer, but I couldn't because I am only level one, so I have to leave my own answer. Yes, I have too much time on my hands.

Answer 8

It shines forward because the light speed is relative to the observer and the observer, you, are in the car.

Answer 9

if your car went at the speed of light then that means that supposing your lights actually do prduce a visiblebeam separate from the car, your car would be right next to the beam.
(i know its confusing) but plainly, your car would not produce a beam at all because the light from the beam is moving at LIGHT speed and your car as well is movinng at LIGHT speed

Answer 10

hi,
a great question. .... it might sound daft but why would the light beam be needed at all ..? !!!!.. .for on coming traffic.........if they were needed, at what speed and direction might the other vehicle be travelling at.... lol... I'd hope they'd dip there light beams ... even if they were slower or faster than the speed of light.