b3ta.com qotw
You are not logged in. Login or Signup
Home » Question of the Week » Off Topic » Post 1322298 | Search
This is a question Off Topic

Are you a QOTWer? Do you want to start a thread that isn't a direct answer to the current QOTW? Then this place, gentle poster, is your friend.

(, Sun 1 Apr 2001, 1:00)
Pages: Latest, 837, 836, 835, 834, 833, ... 1

« Go Back | See The Full Thread

If you got a non-flexible tube that is one light year long, and you pushed it at the exact same time as you shined a light through it.
What would happen first on the other end? Does that mean that it has moved faster than the speed of light? Does it mean that it's impossible for anything to be a lightyear across?
(, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 15:32, 1 reply, 15 years ago)
The movement of an object is still limited by the speed of light.
What would happen is that at about the speed of light there will be a compression wave moving along the tube. Think of it as a slinky but not visible. That moves at pretty much the speed of light depending on the material and so the light and the movement of the tube will move at very similar times. Light should beat it though because there is no slowdown.
(, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 15:38, Reply)

« Go Back | See The Full Thread

Pages: Latest, 837, 836, 835, 834, 833, ... 1