what will happen when we reach the speed of light?

Answer 1

According to conventional physics, nothing will happen when we go the speed of light, because it is impossible to go the speed of light. In order to accelerate, energy is required. The amount of energy required to accelerate depends on the mass of the object accelerating. However, the faster the current speed of the object is, the more mass it has, and more energy is required to accelerate it. If the object reached the speed of light it would have infinite mass, and thus would have required infinite energy to reach the speed of light. Because energy is not infinite, the speed of light cannot be obtained by anything that has mass.

But then, how can light achieve that speed? The answer is that light has no mass. Yet, how did light get that speed in the first place, and why doesn't it go any faster? The reason to that is that the speed of light is a constant, represented as "C". By being a constant, if the speed of light changes due to gravity, time itself will change to conform to the difference, thus keeping the constant.

Answer 2

Theoretically speaking, suppose we were in a spaceship approaching 99% of light-speed: To the observor on Earth, the spaceship would seem to slow-down, and eventually stop at light-speed. To us, in the spaceship, nothing would seem out of the ordinary, except for the fact that all the activties on Earth, and there conception of time, would be flying by at a ever more faster rate.

Moreover, as we approach 99.9% of light-speed, the mass of the spaceship would multiply exponentially, eventually reaching infinite mass as we hit light-speed. At that point our engines would need infinite energy in order to "push" the infinitely massive spaceship: a paradox, and an impossibility.

If, and thats a big if, we do cross this light-barrier in some way, the Earth, as we see it from the spaceship, would indeed digress backward in time. Another paradox.

Suppose we went light-speed for a few moments and returned to Earth, would we find a planet backward or advanced in time?

Answer 3

Well, the wait is going to be a pretty long one for us to be able to accelerate anything man made close to the speed of light. Right now we are pretty much stagnant around the 30,000 Miles Per Hour mark. So, anyone that is holding their breath for this to happen will most likely die of lack of air before we reach this level of space flight propulsion.

Answer 4

the universe would collapse, from the infinite energy you consumed for it.

if you disregard that law and assume you are massless
you wouldn't even notice that you were travelling at C, cause time becomes meaningless at C
The next moment you are at some other place in the universe and everything you would see would be older.
Older for the time it would need to get there with the speed of C for an external observer.

eventually someone will grant you with the nobel-price in experimental physics, for doing something which is believed it cannot happen.

Answer 5

I guess (if it was possible), it would be similar to what happened with the sound, a delay.

In the ship for example they will pass point A at 3:00 when on the ground they will only see the ship past that point at 3:30 for example.

Answer 6

For any mass to attain the speed of light would require infinite energy (..all the energy in the universe..)

Answer 7

that doesn't really make sense. we are traveling at the speed of light with respect to every photon. Maybe for all we know we are traveling at the speed of light w.r.t. some other things that have mass, but for what we know now this is impossible.

it's all relative.

Answer 8

Hi. Nothing. Time stops.

Answer 9

-we will be able to get to places lightning fast.
-age slower.
and hmmmm
-we will be able to travel in the comfort of complete silence
ahhh relaxing. . . :P

oh plus all the other stuff everyone else stated.

Answer 10

Time ceases to exist.