Why is the speed of light limited to a countable number

AI Thread Summary
The speed of light is a finite constant defined as 299,792,458 m/s, following the principles of special relativity, which state there is no preferred frame of reference. This finite nature is similar to mathematical constants like pi. The discussion clarifies that "countable" refers to cardinality and does not relate to the concept of infinity in terms of magnitude. The original question is deemed poorly phrased, as all numbers are countable, and the focus should be on why light does not travel at infinite speed. The existence of constants suggests a structured framework in physics rather than randomness.
AgentPancake
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
why isn't it like infinity or something.
 
Science news on Phys.org
AgentPancake said:
why isn't it like infinity or something.
As I said in your other thread, the fact that the maximum speed, which coincides with the speed of light in vacuum, is a finite constant follows from the special principle of relativity, i.e. that there is no preferred frame of reference.

P.S. On a somewhat less unhelpful note, the simple answer nowadays is that we define it that way. Since the early 1980's the speed of light has been defined to be exactly 299,792,458 m/s. The speed of light is finite and constant for the same reason \pi is finite and constant. :-p
 
hmmm, its like something made the laws of pi and the speed of light etc
 
Aside: "countable" is a measure of cardinality, and thus little to no relation to notions of magnitude or other geometric measure, or to the extended real number +\infty.
 
AgentPancake said:
hmmm, its like something made the laws of pi and the speed of light etc

Nope. It doesn't seem like that at all from the observation that constants exist. Also, the OP has been answered well all ready but I'll just add that the question is worded poorly, any number is countable. The question is really "why isn't light infinite".
 
Thread 'A quartet of epi-illumination methods'
Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with epi-illumination, the light passes through the ring twice). This method was popular only for a very short period of time before epi-DIC (differential interference contrast) became widely available. So...
I am currently undertaking a research internship where I am modelling the heating of silicon wafers with a 515 nm femtosecond laser. In order to increase the absorption of the laser into the oxide layer on top of the wafer it was suggested we use gold nanoparticles. I was tasked with modelling the optical properties of a 5nm gold nanoparticle, in particular the absorption cross section, using COMSOL Multiphysics. My model seems to be getting correct values for the absorption coefficient and...

Similar threads

Back
Top