I read this in Wikipedia: "EM radiation in a vacuum always travels at the speed of light, relative to the observer, regardless of the observer's velocity."
Does that mean that if I was in a car going 60 mph, the speed of light would be 670,616,629.2 mph to me? Then would it still be 670,616,629.2 mph to a stationary observer or 670,616,699.2 mph?
2007-12-26 15:38:11 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Einstein states that the speed of light is the fastest anything can travel through space, regardless of the observer's relative speed. It is the universal speed limit. If you were to measure the speed of light emitted by a moving car it would still be equal to 186,000 miles per second. Experiments have shown that this is indeed correct.
2007-12-26 15:51:39 · answer #1 · answered by John2000 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
EM radiation in a vacuum always travels at the speed of light, relative to the observer, regardless of the observer's velocity."
The sentence has to be read along with the preceding sentences. One cannot interpret the meaning considering a single sentence without knowing what was said previously.
But these are the facts about the speed of light.
Two important concepts about speed of light have to be noted carefully.
1. The speed of light is independent of the speed of the source of light.
{ This is true for any wave. The velocity of sound also does not depend upon the speed of the source from which it is emitted. Once the light or sound is emitted from the source, the velocity of light or velocity of sound depends only upon the medium through which they move.But light wave can travel in vacuum where as sound wave requires a material medium Sound is the transmission of vibration energy in materials and hence they require a medium. Light which is also an electro magnetic wave does not require a medium.}
2.
The speed of light is also independent of the speed of the observer, meaning that all observers regardless of their speed will always measure the speed of light as a constant.
Thus the speed of light is a constant in vacuum.
if you were in a car going 60 mph, the speed of light would be 670,616,629.2 mph to you whether you are going toward a beam of light or away from a beam of light. The same value will be for the stationary observer.
2007-12-27 00:27:16 · answer #2 · answered by Pearlsawme 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Personal time observation relitive to the experianceor (driver) I would imagine, maintains the same speed as always. To the experiancee (observer) wouldn't see experianceor at all, but perhaps as a streak, supposing a direct course for said observation be chartetd effectively,
in anticipation.
So I suppose what I am saying is... It is faster by the observer, it is slower by the drivers imediate proximity to time charting, the same speed to the driver while simultaineously being slower observed further out and faster, further in. So if 60 is the agreed upon caluculatory number that represents speed to all parties at any experiance point, I would maintain that 60 is the MPH all observes, no matter the velocity, light speed or stationary point or traveler. (And for simplicities sake, would end up this number in the end.)The vairiables would conclude that an all encompassing answer by more than one variable of experiance will by virtue of its nature be a variable in and of itself, to equal all points of view which happen to equal the rate of the origininal # in the question.
So the answer to your question from my perspective is Yes.
I am not being fececious either. :)
2007-12-27 08:07:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what it is in mph but it would be 299 792.458 Km/s for the guy in the car and the guy on the road. That can be the case because time is relative just like space. If one guy sees the light to travel a further distance, he also sees it travel for a longer time and that exactly makes up for the difference.
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2007-12-27 00:13:55 · answer #4 · answered by David Dodeca 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty damn spooky, huh.
You read it right. Both you and the guy watching your car go by will measure the same speed of light.
And it gets worse. The faster you go, the slower your watch will run. So when you measure the time it takes for light to pass your car, it will always seem the same.
2007-12-27 00:24:45 · answer #5 · answered by Phoenix Quill 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋