Question about approaching light speed of a rotating object

In summary, the conversation discusses the hypothetical scenario of a wheel or disc spinning at a speed close to the speed of light and the potential observable effects it would have. The poster acknowledges their limited knowledge on the subject and asks for thoughts and opinions. They also apologize for any mistakes in their post and ask for redirection to a more appropriate forum if needed. Another poster shares a link to a previous discussion on the topic and offers their thoughts on the issue. The conversation ends with a question about whether any galaxies spin fast enough for stars on the rim to reach relativistic speeds and a discussion on the potential red and blue shifts and aging effects in this scenario.
  • #1
firefox5926
3
0
this is my first post so please be gentile with me

what would a wheel or a disc turning at a speed approaching that of light look like

my knowledge of the subject it quite small

but say the disc was rotating clock wise then looking at it from its right side would the top half look like it was blue shifted and would the bottom half look like it was red shifted
also would that mean that the blue shifted area of the disc be ageing more quickly and the red shifted area be ageing more slowly.

and looking at it straight on would the centre of the disc look different to the edges of it because it the centre is rotating slower than the edge.

any thought's would be appreciated

sorry about the lack of punctuation if this is in the wrong part of the forum i Apologize if some one could direct me to a more appropriate section it would be appreciated
 
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  • #3
thanks for the link ghwell jr its sort of helps i understand that spinning a disc up to that sort of speed is near impossible but if it was. what would the observable effects be. but thanks all the same :)
 
  • #4
I think the point is that you cannot use a theory that predicts one thing to ask what that theory would predict if it predicted something different. There are lots more threads that deal with this subject if you search on "disc" in this forum.
 
  • #5
I wonder whether any galaxies (some of which are disc shaped) spin fast enough that stars on the rim are moving at relativistic speeds relative to the centre, or to stars antipodally opposite them.

Regarding your specific questions, I would expect the answers to be as follows:

If you are looking along the axis you will see no red or blue shift, because the direction of motion of the disc's rim is perpendicular to the line from you to it.

If you are looking at a nonzero angle to the axis, there will be some part of the rim that has a maximal component of velocity towards you and the antipodal part will have a maximal component of velocity away from you. You will see light traveling from those parts to you as blue and red shifted respectively, but the effect will probably be too small to measure for an artificial disc. For a galaxy, it may be measurable, depending on the answer to the first question above.

The parts moving towards you would be aging (in your observer's reference frame) fast and those moving away would be aging slowly. So in a complete circuit I would expect the amount of aging you perceive to be the same as in the comoving reference frame (maybe not, though, as it's an accelerated frame). Here I'm thinking of a pulsar on the rim of said galaxy. It will appear to be pulsing faster (than in its own co-moving reference frame) when it's moving towards you and more slowly when moving away.
 

1. Can a rotating object reach the speed of light?

No, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, an object with mass cannot reach the speed of light. As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases infinitely and it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it further.

2. Is it possible for a rotating object to travel at a speed close to the speed of light?

Yes, it is possible for a rotating object to travel at a speed close to the speed of light. However, as the object's speed increases, its mass also increases and it would require a tremendous amount of energy to continue accelerating it. Additionally, the effects of time dilation and length contraction would become more significant at these speeds.

3. How does the rotation of an object affect its speed and ability to approach the speed of light?

The rotation of an object does not directly affect its speed or ability to approach the speed of light. However, a rotating object does have a higher angular velocity, which can cause the object to experience greater forces and stresses as it approaches high speeds.

4. What is the role of mass and energy in approaching the speed of light for a rotating object?

As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases and it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it further. This is due to the relationship between mass and energy described by Einstein's famous equation, E=mc². The increase in mass also results in an increase in the object's inertia, making it more difficult to accelerate.

5. Are there any observable effects on the physical properties of a rotating object as it approaches the speed of light?

Yes, as an object approaches the speed of light, it experiences time dilation, where time appears to slow down for the object relative to an observer. Additionally, the object will also experience length contraction, where its length appears to shrink in the direction of motion. These effects become more significant as the object's speed approaches the speed of light.

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