Given light and very long pole. Items are rigged such that as soon as light is on pole is also pushed. Sensor at the end detects both light and the push. Would the sensor detect the light or the pole push first?
2007-04-03 12:13:11 · 5 answers · asked by Hitchhiker 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Nothing is allowed to be faster than light. This means that the sensor couldn't notice the push prior to the light. What this really means is that relativity sets an upper limit on the stiffness of solid objects. They can't be so perfectly stiff that a signal could propagate along them faster than c.
2007-04-03 12:18:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No. So far it does not seem possible to get information from one place to another faster than light, and that includes moving polse. The fact is, the motion wave caused by the push would only travel along the pole at the speed of sound in the pole's material, and no material exists in which the speed of sound is higher than the speed of light. This also means that the difference in time would depend not only on the distance from the other end but also the material the pole is made of, for example a pole made of steel would move at the other end sooner than a pole made of ice.
So basically what Bekki B said.
2007-04-03 19:20:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The push on the pole creates a mechanical compression wave. The transit time is the inverse of the speed of sound through whatever the pole is made divided by the length.
The assumption here is, that the "push" has sufficient force to push the large mass of a very long pole.
Even for short distances, the transit time may be measured in microseconds. This principle is used for a certain type of oil-well logging instrument, called a "sonic" probe -- to measure the density of rock.
The speed of sound is still a far cry from the speed of light.
.
2007-04-03 19:22:31 · answer #3 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
noooooooooooooo
Lets say you are in a fighter plane going 500 MPH. You shoot a bullet that leaves the plane at 700 MPH. The bullet is traveling at 1200 MPH.
But if you turn on the landing lights, the plane is going 500 MPH, the light is going 186,000 MPS. The light is still traveling at 186,000 MPS.
Weird, ain't it?
2007-04-03 19:19:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically, it isn't faster than light. It's just a much smaller version of a race between me going 1cm and light going a lightyear. Light is still faster, it just has to travel so much further than I do that it can't beat me.
2007-04-03 19:21:04 · answer #5 · answered by atmtarzy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋