Why is the speed at which light travels so important?

Question

Why is it that time travel is based on the speed of light? Is time related to light?

Answer 1

Lightspeed, c, enforces maximum information transfer rate. Newton's constant, Big G, scales gravitation. Planck's constant, h, enforces uncertainty in measurement; h-bar is the fundamental unit of action. Taken together they define all of physics.

Given any achievable velocities V1 and V2 and any finite lightspeed, the bound on the relative velocities of V1 and V2 as viewed by any inertial observer cannot exceed

(V1 + V2)/[1 +(V1)(V2)/c^2]

This is transformation of velocities parallel to the direction of motion. Galileo and Newton were approximations (wrong).

ds^2 = sqrt[(p_x)^2 + (p_y)^2 + (p_z)^2 - (p_t)^2]; metric signature (+1,+1,+1,-1), Relativity

Answer 2

The most obvious and most important reason to us that if there was no speed of light we would be living on a great big gigantic rock full of nothing.

The speed of light helps us to study very distant objects in space. From that light we receive we are able to find out what that object is like.

Imagine if light moved much slower than it does and you went into a dangerous dark area. You turn the light on and instead of instant light you would have to wait for the light to travel through the room. By the time the room was engulfed in light the Boogie man would have had you for dinner.

Answer 3

The speed of light is important because it is one of the goals that we will always be aiming to reach, just like flying faster than the speed of sound, (thought at one time to be impossible) or sending men into space, or going to the moon, or sending space probes to other planets.

Answer 4

the speed at which light travels is imortant because it is really fast. Light travels at 1,079,252,848.8 km/h. If you travel this fast scientists belive that you can stop time. It is immposible to stop time or travel at the speed of light so youcan get really close to this speed and slow down time!!!

Whoa!!! cool isnt it???

Answer 5

Some people believe that they are the same thing, I don't know how they reason on this logic. I don't think that a reason for why has been put forward, but the theory is explained here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity

Answer 6

Its value is not important. the important thing is that the same in every inertial frame