If I could spin a laser at over 1000revs per second inside a circular wall 186 miles around would the laser beam be travelling faster than 186,000 miles per second?
2006-12-03 08:39:38 · 8 answers · asked by bo nidle 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The laser beam would lag behind the laser.
The faster it spun the more it would lag.
The beam would always travel at "C".
Consider the rotating laser stopped,the beam would cover the distance at in a straight line at "C".
As you spun the laser the point of light would fall behind the laser always traveling at "C".
As the rotation increased the spot would lag more and more and could even lap itself,never exceeding "C"
If you use a photon and a photon emitter a completely different set of circumstances would exist,however this is another question.
2006-12-04 04:51:54 · answer #1 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. You would no longer have a spinning laser but a pulsating light source. A stripe around the wall would be illuminated but the light would travel from your light source to the wall at the speed of light.
2006-12-03 16:44:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The speed of light is the speed of the light from the laser to the wall, not the speed of the light around the wall.
If you did spin it that fast, it would still travel the same speed to the wall
2006-12-03 16:43:28 · answer #3 · answered by monkey boy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is NO. The speed of light is a constant (c).
The fact that the speed of light measured from any object in motion was the same in any case was the point of departure of Einstein's theory of relativity.
2006-12-03 16:42:45 · answer #4 · answered by El calvito 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Nope...the beam would just curve its way through space according to the limits of relativity...never faster than light. It's just not possible.
2006-12-03 16:42:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, it travels at the same speed regardless (in free space). It makes no difference how fast the source is moving.
2006-12-03 21:21:42 · answer #6 · answered by Cassandra 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. But the frequency of the light would change.
2006-12-03 16:47:01 · answer #7 · answered by Don M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yea
2006-12-03 16:41:58 · answer #8 · answered by 50 yen 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋