2007-01-05 03:21:14 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Assuming that it could the answer is Yes but only for the occupants of the vehicle. For the outside observer the light will travel with the same constant speed “c” relative to him.
In special relativity the velocities must be combined using the formula w = (u + v)/(1 + uv/c^2)
So if .99c is the speed of the vehicle and c is the speed of headlights we have:
W=(.99c+c)/(1+.99c*c/c^2)
=(1.99c)/(1.99)=c
Try it and have fun you will see you can never excide the speed of “c”
2007-01-05 04:49:28 · answer #1 · answered by j 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As many answerers pointed out, your vehicle cannot travel at the speed of light; so the question has no real answer...you can't answer the impossible.
HOWEVER...if it could, how would that headlight beam manifest itself?
The answer is simple, they wouldn't. Your vehicle, at the speed of light, would have infinite inertial mass (M --> infinity). Therefore, it would have infinite gravity (from GMm/r^2 = force of gravity between two masses M and m). Infinite gravity would immediately suck in any photons emitted by your headlights; your vehicle would become a black hole the size of the universe.
A more interesting question is how would the light beams behave at some vehicle velocity approaching, but not equal to, light speed. Again, gravity would bend the light beams. The closer your Jaguar gets to the speed of light, the more the light beams would bend. Until, finally, they would bend back in on the car and be trapped by the black hole your Jag has become at the speed of light.
2007-01-05 04:23:46 · answer #2 · answered by oldprof 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, sort of. First of all, Einstein proved that a vehicle can never reach the speed of light. But to answer your question, I'll assume that the vehicle is moving "almost" the speed of light.
If you are in the vehicle the light will appear to move away from you at the speed of light. If you are outside the vehicle (at rest) the light will appear to move at the speed of light (c) just slightly faster than the vehicle (since the vehicle is moving just slightly slower than light).
Whats happening here is the law of propagation of light. Light moves at a constant speed (c) no matter what speed the observer is moving.
What Einstein figured out to explain how this is possible is that TIME is NOT constant. Time for the person inside the vehicle is much faster relative to the person observing. That is why the person in the vehicle will age much slower than the observer. And so the same beam of light coming off the ship APPEARS to move at the speed of light for both observers, even though the one is chasing it. Pretty crazy stuff huh?
2007-01-05 03:24:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
OK, a vehicle can not travel at the speed of light. Only approaching the speed of light. The light wouldn't appear any different to the person in or outside of the vehicle. The Michelson/Morley experiment showed that light travelled at a constant speed no matter what the frame of reference of the observer is.
2007-01-05 03:25:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes it will shine ahead of the vehicle because the speed of light in this case is twice the light speed(speed of the vehicle+light speed) .
2007-01-05 03:32:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
No body can be traveling at the speed of light
2007-01-05 03:26:50 · answer #6 · answered by JAMES 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
no
with exactly the speed of light (not 99%) your time does not exist anymore.. its meaningless .. can you imagine how photons could be emitted if they have no time ?
you don't even have the time to turn the lights on :-P
2007-01-05 04:17:14 · answer #7 · answered by blondnirvana 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the speed of light does not depend on the velocity of the object emitting the radiation, part of the fundamentals of electromagnetism...
2007-01-05 05:50:16 · answer #8 · answered by Beach_Bum 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, they would not shine but if you could manage to stand in the front of the vehicle you would see them illuminated - not shining.
2007-01-05 03:29:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
The light beam will accelerate away to 1cm then stay ,saturate the emitter and burn it out.
2007-01-05 03:26:34 · answer #10 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋