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mee
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the speed of light is 186000 mps or some such compared to what? :)
jcsd said:The speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per secpnmd or exactly 299 792 458 metres per second. I don't know what you mean by 'compared to 'what', the speed of light is the same in all inertial frames.
Yes. And that is the 2nd postulate of Special Relativity.mee said:So whatever inertial frame one is measuring by, light travels at c as if the inertial frame was still?
The speed of light is the fastest possible speed at which all matter and information can travel in the universe. In a vacuum, it is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second (or about 670,616,629 miles per hour).
The speed of light was first measured by Danish astronomer Ole Rømer in the late 17th century. He observed the moons of Jupiter and noticed that their orbits seemed to vary depending on the distance between Jupiter and Earth. By measuring the time it took for the moons to orbit Jupiter, Rømer was able to estimate the speed of light.
The speed of light is considered a fundamental constant because it is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or the source of the light. This means that it is a universal constant that governs the behavior of the universe and is a key component of many fundamental theories in physics.
The speed of light is incredibly fast compared to other speeds in the universe. For example, the speed of sound in air is about 343 meters per second, while the speed of light is almost 300,000,000 meters per second. Additionally, the speed of light is much faster than the speed of objects in our everyday life, such as cars, planes, and even rockets.
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases and it requires an infinite amount of energy to accelerate it further. This is why the speed of light is often referred to as the "cosmic speed limit" or the ultimate speed limit in the universe.