What was the meaning of Warp and Warp Factor #'s in Original Star Trek series, traveling faster than Light?

Question

they appeared to be traveling faster than the Speed of Light, hopping around, what do the Warp Factor numbers mean, are they equivalent to something like the MACH numbers and the Speed of Sound, but referring to the Speed of Light?

hmm... someone said in television area of answers they could not go faster than Warp Factor 9.5? in OST series : )

i know fictional, but just wondering how they calculated in terms of Scientific Principles, you know all these shows have to try and base on something in Science to provide an answer to how it works or how it is defined or what it is

just curious, i find the show entertaining, they've been showing repeats of the OST on our local TV channels, i think it is much more fun and funny and entertaining than later versions, i also like the Dramatic and Serious Sounding well Orchestrated Music, seriously i think the Music makes it more fun and Dramatic, : ) , they play it really loud whenever something happens, he he

Answer 1

I actually *know* this one...well, at least if you are talking about the *Original* series of _Star Trek_, as I had a few uncles on my father's side who were fans.

The Warp Numbers were originally *cubes*. Meaning you Multiply Warp N as follows: N * N * N * c = Warp Factor N, where "c" is Einstein's speed of light in a vacuum.

So Warp 1 is the Speed of light, since the Cube of One is One.

Warp 2 would be *eight times* the Speed of light since 2 * 2 * 2 = 8.

Warp 5 would be *125* times the Speed of Light, since the cube of five is 125.

And so on.

Granted, something tells me they changed that for future shows, especially as the ships got "faster" and the warp numbers went up...but still, that is how it was originally.

Answer 2

Mateo nailed it. In the Original Series, to find how fast the ship was travelling in terms of c (the speed of light), take the cube of the warp factor. So ... Warp 1 = 1^3 = 1c (speed of light, 1 raised to any power is 1) Warp 2 = 2^3 = 8c Warp 3 = 3^3 = 27c Warp 4 = 4^3 = 64c And so on.

Answer 3

Warp drive created a distortion in space/time that allowed them to travel faster than the speed of light. More or less they were altering the physics of the area directly around the ship so that relatively speaking, they were moving faster than the speed of light. I seem to remember an episode where they travelled at warp 11 but I'm not entirely sure. And yes I would imagine it does mean the equivalent of mach 2 and mach 3.

Answer 4

I believe that warp factor 1 was the speed light, so therefore warp factor 2 was twice the speed of light etc..warp factor 9.5 was highest speed they could go..but i do remember a Star Trek TNG episode where Geordi discussed warp factor 10 being that they would be everywhere in the universe at that exact moment

Answer 5

I'm a first-generation Trekker, and if I recall correctly, warp speed is the speed of light, and the higher 'factors' were multiples of that. So, Warp Factor 3 would be three times the speed of light.

Answer 6

Your analogy is correct. The idea of a Warp is based in the concept that as one approaches the speed of light (c.) they are stretched or "warped"

But why do you ask? Capt. James T. Kirk would already know this.

Answer 7

waprfactor 1 is the speed of light , but warpfactor 3 is 24 times the speed of light
http://www.trekplace.com/article12.html

Answer 8

yep mach 1 is the speed of light 186,000 per sec

Answer 9

scotty needed to keep the plastic model from falling apart

Answer 10

I am going to tel-beam myself to your house and give you the Hollywood answer.