Changing of one of the previous topics

[dasher]

in one of the previous topics, it was suggested that if one carries a mirror and travels at a speed of 0.99c, he will still see his own reflection in the mirror because the theory of special relativity states that the speed of light is constant in all inertial frames. However, what if i change this question a little and say that i am traveling at the speed of light, c? will i still see my image in the mirror? i doubt so since i think there wouldn't be any reflection of light then.

 

[OOO]

in one of the previous topics, it was suggested that if one carries a mirror and travels at a speed of 0.99c, he will still see his own reflection in the mirror because the theory of special relativity states that the speed of light is constant in all inertial frames. However, what if i change this question a little and say that i am traveling at the speed of light, c? will i still see my image in the mirror? i doubt so since i think there wouldn't be any reflection of light then.

As has been said over and over again, you can't travel at the speed of light (only Freddy Mercury can...). It's impossible. Kiss that goodbye.

 

[dasher]

As has been said over and over again, you can't travel at the speed of light (only Freddy Mercury can...). It's impossible. Kiss that goodbye.

what i mean is "IF". if i do, what will i see in the mirror?

 

[JesseM]

what i mean is "IF". if i do, what will i see in the mirror?

It's a poorly-defined question. Relativity doesn't allow it, so you'd have to outline a specific alternative theory in order to get a specific answer.

 

[dasher]

so does this mean that i can only answer the question if i leave it as "close to the speed of light"?

 

[OOO]

what i mean is "IF". if i do, what will i see in the mirror?

"IF" something false is true then anything is true. Ex falso quod libet.

But if you like to abuse your imagination then you may think of an image of you looking in the mirror. If that image is sent to some distant star by a digital transmission then most likely the bits representing the mirror will always have the same distance from the bits representing your eyes. But again, that's not you looking in the mirror at the speed of light, but an image of you looking in the mirror at the speed of light.

 

[OOO]

so does this mean that i can only answer the question if i leave it as "close to the speed of light"?

If you intend to know something about physics then the answer is definitely yes.

 

[Demystifier]

As has been said over and over again, you can't travel at the speed of light.

But this is not really important for the question, because it can easily be rephrased as follows. Seeing yourself in the mirror means that you can indirectly (i.e., via light) interact with the mirror without actually coming to the position of the mirror. So can light indirectly interact with the mirror before coming to the position of the mirror? The answer is - of course not, because in order to do that light should emit something that moves even faster, which is impossible.

 

[OOO]

I repeat: ex falso quodlibet. You can prove anything from falsity.