V#1 +V#2 = V#3
Where:
V#1 is my velocity
V#2 is the speed of light (from the flashlight)
V#3 is the combined speed of the light and my speeds
since velocity is cumulative (i.e. throwing a baseball out of your car, while your car is going 100 mph would mean the ball would be traveling at least 100 mph as it left your hand depending on how hard you threw it.) wouldn't the light be traveling just faster than the theoretical value we have determined as the speed of light?
2007-11-29 17:30:38 · 4 answers · asked by Null 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I know it doesn't make sense. These are the kinds of questions which led to the special theory of relativity. It goes against all your instincts. That formula you said, v1+v2=v3, it turns out it only works in Newtonian physics, and it's simply not true in Einsteinian physics.
When you deal with velocities which are a small fraction of c (the speed of light in a vacuum) you can use Newtonian physics and get essentially the same answer, but if any of the speeds involved are a large fraction of c, or c itself, you have to use special relativity.
In the example you gave, from the point of view of the person walking with the flashlight the light is moving forward at the speed of light, and from the point of view of a person standing still it is also moving forward at the exact same speed. I know it sounds crazy, but that's the foundation of special relativity, in fact it's the foundation of the idea which led to general relativity:
The speed of light is a constant for all observers.
It doesn't matter how fast you are moving, toward the light or away from the light, you will always always always measure it's speed to be exactly the same as anyone else would measure it.
2007-11-29 17:40:01 · answer #1 · answered by dogwood_lock 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Quite simply, No.
It isn't obvious, but it is a basic tenet of relativity that light travels at the same speed relative to everybody, no matter how fast they are moving.
2007-11-29 21:53:48 · answer #2 · answered by za 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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2016-07-11 08:32:37 · answer #3 · answered by Sibyl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. When you go faster time slows down, and speed of light says constant.
http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~vincent/4500.6-001/Cosmology/SpecialRelativity.htm
2007-11-29 17:41:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋