44 replies to this topic

[Coconut Man]

Faster than light? Is that possible?

Albert Einstein said, an object in the Speed of the light has a infinite size.

 

The problem is that as a massive object (that is, an object with mass) approaches the speed of light, it will continue to gain mass preventing it from ever reaching that speed.

[Calvary]

Well, light is a wave, and the speed of a wave is determined by the medium through which it travels. Think of how sound travels faster through water and steel than it does through air. Find a medium in which light travels faster is my suggestion, although I'm sure people much smarter and more qualified than me have considered that idea and tested it already.

Additionally, scientists have already succeeded in stopping light. Albeit not in which the manner you're talking about, but I still feel it's noteworthy.

 

I thought light was made from photon particles? Whereas a wave is more like sound and stuff?

[Coconut Man]

I thought light was made from photon particles? Whereas a wave is more like sound and stuff?

Light is both a wave and a particle. Light itself is a particle, but streams of photons form waves that act like waves. At least, that's what Einstein said?
The thing is, light fits the wave model almost perfectly, keeping in mind that a wave is something without mass that transfers energy from one place to another, but there are some instances where light matches the particle model, where it has mass. Basically, light hasn't decided yet. Science is weird.

[Affray]

Man, I didn't even think about that, but how would they track something going faster than what we know possible?

Well, we developed technology that allows us to see in the dark, see heat differentials, detect things via radar, measure and observe incredibly tiny particles in our world, and across the reaches of space.

 

I am sure we will figure it out if we need to.

 

 

Faster than light? Is that possible?

Albert Einstein said, an object in the Speed of the light has a infinite size.

Maybe there is already stuff out there moving faster than the speed of light, but we just can't observe or measure it yet.

[Calvary]

I think the laws of Physics cap light speed off as the fastest speed in the universe.

It's one if those things where if you don't know enough about it, physics is fanned hard to talk about. I just so happen to know nothing about it.


If only Willy where here, he probably has a degree in it from the top university.

[Silver_rose]

I thought light was made from photon particles? Whereas a wave is more like sound and stuff?

Light exists as both particles and waves, as previously stated.

Now, there are funny properties when it comes to light, and the actual form it takes is a particularly interesting and fundamental concept in quantum physics. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal explains how light can be either a photon or a wave and these concepts have been documented many times with experiments. How light is tested and observed determines how it manifests. Slit experiments show the wave properties of diffraction and interference that occur with sound and light in a visual sense. So when you test how light manifests as a wave, you negate the ability to test the energy of the photon. When you test how light manifests as a photon, you negate the ability to test the frequency of the wave. There are experiments to test for both, but they produce less accurate results, so they generally aren't done.

As for the speed of light, there is no physical law that states nothing can move faster than the speed of light. It is math, pure and simple that explains that a photon moves from - for example - the sun to the earth, in the vacuum of space, at the speed of light, approx. 3.0 x 10^8 m/s. If something does indeed move faster than the speed of light it is impossible for us to perceive visually but doesn't necessarily mean that outright nothing can move faster than the speed of light.

If indeed we are able to make something move close to, at or faster than the speed of light, many strange are theorised to happen. One DifferentTurret pointed out - mass is gained at an exponential rate. Another is time changes significantly - this falls in the line of special relativity, which is too long and complicated to properly explain. But there are theories that if you move past the speed of light, you can actually reverse time, which does makes sense if you understand special relativity (of course it's just a hypothesis that you could reverse time so while it makes sense doesn't mean it can actually be true!).

However, it would be very interesting to see if they could make a photon move faster than the speed of light, so many theories about time travel could be tested, huge leaps in science could be made if it is possible. Of course if it is possible, it might not be able to be perceived, how much of mind-fuck is that?

[Calvary]

I think I just learnt more about physics in one post than two years of classes.

[Affray]

If only Willy where here, he probably has a degree in it from the top university.

He would definitely set us all straight.

 

 

I think I just learnt more about physics in one post than two years of classes.

I have learned more sass from you during my time on this forum than nearly an entire lifetime if living with a bunch of women.

[Calvary]

Sass and Sark are the voices in my head.

[Coconut Man]

If indeed we are able to make something move close to, at or faster than the speed of light, many strange are theorised to happen. One DifferentTurret pointed out - mass is gained at an exponential rate. Another is time changes significantly - this falls in the line of special relativity, which is too long and complicated to properly explain. But there are theories that if you move past the speed of light, you can actually reverse time, which does makes sense if you understand special relativity (of course it's just a hypothesis that you could reverse time so while it makes sense doesn't mean it can actually be true!).

However, it would be very interesting to see if they could make a photon move faster than the speed of light, so many theories about time travel could be tested, huge leaps in science could be made if it is possible. Of course if it is possible, it might not be able to be perceived, how much of mind-fuck is that?



 

Wait, I've heard that we would go FORWARD in time if exceeding the speed of light?

Anyways, there are alternate ways to covering distances faster than light can. A popular theory of course is that black holes are wormholes. Here's how it would work without breaking physics: Imagine a paper, this paper representing the fabric of space-time, with two points on it labelled A and B, much like this:

 

Remember, the graph represents space-time. This will be important
No matter what, you must cross from point A to B by crossing the distance from A to B, right? Well, there's a way to get to B faster than light could from A without cheating. Einstein established in the early 20th century that mass creates a bend in space time in the form of gravity. Examine the GIF below.

Now, that is a star. a black hole's looks like this:

Now, go back to the paper. Imagine that someone took the paper and folded it such that A and B are now right next to each other. Using a very powerful gravitational object with a lot of mass, such as a supermassive black hole, we could do that to the fabric of space time. This is how it would be illustrated:

According to this theory, the speed of light may be the limit, but there's a way around it. Of course, a white hole has yet to be discovered, which is why this is a theory.

[Silver_rose]

Wait, I've heard that we would go FORWARD in time if exceeding the speed of light?

 

Erm... Not so much

 

The equation used in the thread about which super hero has the strongest punch is not only used to calculate the resulting energy, it's also used to calculate the time difference when moving at speeds close to light speed.

 

E = ((mc^2)/(1 - (v/c^2))^-2) - mc^2

 

The equation doesn't really work when v/c^2 is at 1 or over one.
 

But the best way to explain it is if a spaceship were to leave earth's orbit and fly at 90% light speed, returning to and from... lets say Pluto, from the people of earth's prospective, it will have taken significantly less time for them to return than if the ship was moving at 10% light speed.

Now lets say the space ship is moving at 120% light speed, what would you think would happen then? The space ship returns before it even leaves. Now to the people on earth, there will be two spaceships and the second one will be seen as if it has gone back in time, as will be a similar perspective for the people on either spaceship. Even if in fact the people on the second spaceship will have, in their little bubble of the spaceship, move linearly forward in time.

 

A real interesting theoretical phenomena is that if the spaceship were to move at light speed, it will look like it had never even moved from the people on earth's perspective.

 

[SpleenBeGone]

Awesome.

 

Today it is only a few millionths of a millimetre, a decade from now maybe they will figure out how to stop it completely.

You know what being able to stop light means? Limited range lasers.

You know what that means? Motherfucking light sabers. 

[Affray]

You know what being able to stop light means? Limited range lasers.

You know what that means? Motherfucking light sabers. 

I am both excited and terrified.

Stupid people already wreak havoc on the world.

Imagine what they could do with swords made of lasers.

[Coconut Man]

The problem with the light saber idea is that in order to change the speed of a wave you must change the medium in which it travels. If light is sitting still, how is it reaching your eye? It's not. Fixed light would not look like anything. Additionally, in order to properly encase the light, it would likely be held in some form of glass (the medium and the light itself) resulting in a glass stick that looks like nothing's in it.


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[Coconut Man]

Also of note, a better way of creating a real life lightsaber is to superheat something (after a certain point all objects emit a dull red glow, which increases in brightness as temperature increases), somehow keep it in place and reduce the mass of the substance to almost zero, and you have a lightsaber. How you keep the material at that temperature is beyond me. I have an understanding of physics and chemistry (as much as AP covers, at least) but I've always struggled with thermodynamics.

[SpleenBeGone]

I am both excited and terrified.

Stupid people already wreak havoc on the world.

Imagine what they could do with swords made of lasers.

Chop off their own body parts so we don't have to deal with them?

[Affray]

Chop off their own body parts so we don't have to deal with them?

Almost a certainty.

 

Different Turret: You can go ahead and stop smashing our collective dream any time now. 

[Silver_rose]

Turret is right though guys.

 

Even if you could have a literal light saber that you could see, there is nothing to say that the photons would contain enough energy to chop and cauterise a limb off. What's more likely is there will be people running around with a new meaning to cancer sticks.
 

*chops at someone's arm with light saber*
"Muhahaha maybe in ten years time you will have melanoma and possibly lymphoma, die fiend!"

 

Very effective

 

A superheated metal that glows is a more likely alternative, but it would probably take much energy and be quite unstable.

 

[Coconut Man]

Turret is right though guys.

 

Even if you could have a literal light saber that you could see, there is nothing to say that the photons would contain enough energy to chop and cauterise a limb off. What's more likely is there will be people running around with a new meaning to cancer sticks.
 

*chops at someone's arm with light saber*
"Muhahaha maybe in ten years time you will have melanoma and possibly lymphoma, die fiend!"

 

Very effective

 

 

Imagine if Star Wars had these cancer sticks instead of lightsabers. I have a feeling the ending battles would be a hell of a lot less climactic.

[Sophientis]

Now, go back to the paper. Imagine that someone took the paper and folded it such that A and B are now right next to each other. Using a very powerful gravitational object with a lot of mass, such as a supermassive black hole, we could do that to the fabric of space time. This is how it would be illustrated: