Speed of Wire faster than Speed of Light?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the misconception that pulling a wire taut between Mars and Earth could result in a movement observable on Mars that exceeds the speed of light. John from Brooklyn, NY clarifies that the speed at which a tug travels through a wire is determined by the speed of sound in that material, which is significantly lower than the speed of light. For example, in steel, this speed is a few kilometers per second, thus adhering to the principles of relativity and the limitations imposed by the speed of light.

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Speed of Wire faster than Speed of Light?

Question:

All planetary motion and gravity effects, etc. aside... if I had the capability of pulling a wire taut from Mars to Earth, keeping it in tension, and then pull on that wire while I stood on Earth, wouldn't the resulting movement of that wire viewed on Mars be faster than the speed of light. Is there anything which would limit the amount of time it would take to observe the resulting movement on Mars?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

John in Brooklyn, NY
 
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The stiffness of the wire, there are lots of ways of violating elatively if you allow infinitely stiff materials.
The speed a tug travels through a wire is the speed of sound in the wire, this is high ( a few km/s in steel) but lessthan the speed of light.
 


The transmission of movement along your wire would be at the speed of sound for whatever material your wire was made from.
 

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