2007-02-13 13:03:32 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I would have said the speed of sound, but I did a search and found out that is actually 15 or 20% faster for complicated reasons. see http://www.technologyreview.com/article/16852/
2007-02-13 16:06:35 · answer #1 · answered by meg 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a really interesting question because the answer is that it can travel faster than the speed of light. Really. The crack is not a "thing", an object with the property of mass. It is a point where the glass separates. This is very much like the question "what is the speed of the point where a wave touches the shore". The latter depends on the speed of the wave and the angle it makes with the shore. As the angle approaches zero, the speed approaches infinity. Again, not an object. If you are ever a high school physics or math instructor, zap your students with that little item.
2007-02-13 13:17:10 · answer #2 · answered by ZORCH 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋