What would happen if a solid object were to move faster than the speed of light?

Question

Would it become infinitely massive?

Answer 1

All these people are wrong and they are just quoting their 20 year old text books. It is possible to move faster than the speed of light. It would not become infinitely massive. it would time travel sort of. But its complicated. If you wanted to travel to a planet that was 25 light years away and traveled at twice the speed of light, you would get there in 12.5 years...but once there, if you look thru a telescope at earth you are seeing what it looked like 12.5 years ago. (25 years - 12.5 years you spent traveling) Then you decide to go back...takes another 12.5 years to get back and time on earth has not passed a day, but unfortunatly, you are 25 years older which would shock everyone you know because they might think you were only gone a few minutes. Not sure if i explained it well as the string of time is a bit complex to understand and explain

Answer 2

No, it would not become infinitely massive but acc. to relativistic equations it's mass would become imaginary and at the speed of light it would have an infinite mass as a consequence it would have an infinite gravitational pull which would not be possible(Time would itself come to a standstill).
Furthermore it would require an infinite amt. of energy just to get to the speed of light. Only particles with ZERO REST MASS (egs. Photons,Gravitons etc.) can travel at the speed of light.

Answer 3

How many times must this same question be asked here? Isn't there a FAQ section which you should check before asking anything?

But I'm in a generous mood tonight, so the answer to this question (for the umpteenth time) is that nothing with mass can even go as fast as light, never mind exceed it. End of discussion, unless you think you can overturn relativity somehow.

Pray tell, peilthewhatever, how *does* one travel faster than light? I and the physics doctorates I know would really like to know...

Answer 4

No. There may be parts of the universe moving from us faster than the speed of light. Oh ok maybe you figured out that thats not really "moving". It is impossible (as far as we know) to accelerate something to as fast as (or faster than) the speed of light. That means your question is meaningless. One false premise in a system of logic allows anything to be proved or disproved. That is, a false premise allows all answers to be proven true - even 1+1 = 42.

Answer 5

The solid object get fired due to the high speed if it moves faster than light.

Answer 6

Personally if a solid object moved faster then the speed of light, it would disintergrate.

Answer 7

regardless of all of your hypothetical criteria met, the rope is only transferring on a similar % as the different rope being tugged. in reaction on your criteria, Observer Y might want to sense the tug before he can see the rope being pulled on the different section. of course we do no longer have fabric solid adequate nor adequate of it to do any such an try although. i won't be able to even start up to imagine how solid this fabric might want to might want to be as a fashion to no longer stretch or destroy. Who is prevalent with perhaps there is a few alien civilization available that makes use of darkish means as strings to talk in the approach lengthy distances.

Answer 8

I guess you wouldn't be able to see because it was moving faster then the speed of light and would not be visible to you.

Answer 9

No. Both it's mass and energy would become imaginary. But to get it *to* lightspeed would require an infinite amount of energy, so the rest of the UNiverse would be dark and cold.


Doug

Answer 10

Well, since we see time move forward as light reaches us, I think the object (if it has eyes), would see time moving backwards.