Our solar system all the way to the center of our galaxy. Now my question is if I push the tube back and forwards does the same event happens in the center of the galaxy? Does the other end of the tube move too at the same instant? I know that noting cannot travel faster than the speed of light.
If you answer yes or no please give coherent answers.
P.S this question came out of my mind.
2006-10-06 16:29:04 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
No it does not. Even when you push a 6 inch long metal tube the other end does not move simultaneously. It takes a small amount of time for the information to propagate down the length of the tube. What happens is that be pushing at one end you compress the atoms in the rod near you, this in turn pushes the next row of atoms and then the next row of atoms, etc. The propogation of atoms is compressional wave down the length of the tube. If you push the end of a very loose spring you can see this wave propagate to the other end. This metal rod is like a very stiff spring.
So you can not send information faster than the speed of light, even by pushing a very long rod.
2006-10-06 16:51:44 · answer #1 · answered by Kevin R 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nothing is infinitely rigid. If you push the end of a long tube, the compression wave takes time to reach the other end. It travels at several kilometres a second in the case of substances like metals, so for ordinary lengths, it seems as if the whole tube started moving instantaneously. But for a tube thousands of light years long, it would be millions of years before the other end started to move. As you correctly say, nothing travels faster than light. This is an important point, because somebody once calculated that a neutron star is so rigid that it transmits sound waves faster than light. They were wrong. The speed of sound increases with rigidity and decreases with density. If a material transmitted vibrations at anywhere near the speed of light, it would behave as if it was more dense, and the speed of sound could never exceed the speed of light.
2006-10-06 16:50:24 · answer #2 · answered by zee_prime 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
OK. Great question! I really liked it.
Your very stiff, light, long tube and your very strong hand are all made of atoms and their constituent electrons, protons, neutrons... in whatever innovative structure to you made them toreach so far, but they are all subject to the electro-magnetic and strong and weak nuclear forces which all vary in strength and range, but all propagate at or less than the speed of light, so your push would have to travel down the tube for a lot of years before the other end would move. During that time, a little compression wave would be moving down the tube.
Wouldn't it be a bummer if you pushed it into the black hole in the center of our galaxy?
2006-10-06 17:09:03 · answer #3 · answered by holden 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I reckon if you take a foot long metal tube and push it back and forth, both ends would move simultaneously. If you take a yard long tube. Same. So you would assume the mile long tube would be the same, the ten mile tube, the one hundred mile tube and so on. However, to "prove" it you would have to have some system in place to see both ends, but then another problem surfaces, the longer the tube gets. Even if you see both ends through the magic of technology, how do you know what you are seeing is accurate? Relativity and Doppler effects could distort what you think you are seeing. Then you look at another problem. The molecules of the tube behave differently in different places in space. So in the end, it is a moot point.
2006-10-06 16:56:58 · answer #4 · answered by pshdsa 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The motion will propagate down the tube at the speed of sound. Since the center of the galaxy is a long ways off, the motion will take a LONG time to reach it.
2006-10-06 17:48:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I understand your question well you're trying to determine if the movement would be noticeable almost instantly to the other end. The answer is Yes. The principle is the same as with electricity, the current flows near the speed of light but current is present all the way in the wire instantly no matter how long it is, even if it was 100 light years long.
The big limitation is that it would still remain almost unfeasible to communicate using such a system because of relativity. The perceived movement would be impacted by multiple gravitational fields which continuously vary because of all the stellar movements. Thus no time reference could be used to interpret the signal being sent.
2006-10-06 17:07:05 · answer #6 · answered by juliepelletier 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
the way i see your question i wanna know if the tube is broken or not. If not then the partcle at your end will move at the same speed with the particle at the other end; so asically your question gets a yes, the same event is happening at the centre of the galaxy unless u r using two tubes.
2006-10-06 16:40:46 · answer #7 · answered by coolricky 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your question is mathematical rather than physics-based. I'd say, since you are not moving your tube at relativistic speeds, it is all plain and simple. I.e. simultaneous, events are the same.
2006-10-06 16:33:59 · answer #8 · answered by Snowflake 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋