what happens to a space ship as it travels the speed of light
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If you travel in a spaceship at the speed of lite and turn on your headlights, volition you be able to see where yous're going?
Steve, Nantwich England
- No, because all things are relative. If you are travelling at the speed of low-cal away from me, then I am equally travelling at the speed of light away from you. There is no special indicate in the universe to compare ourselves with and piece of work out which of us is stationary. This, in a nutshell, is Einstein'southward Full general Theory of Relativity. The but way to explain away the problem is to monkey effectually with our perceptions of time, which gives ascension to many counter-intuitive phenomena and some quite terrifying mathematics.
Allan, Wimbledon United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland
- This is similar to a question Einstein is supposed to take posed to himself equally a kid. His Special Theory of Relativity states that nothing can reach the speed of light anyway; but if your spaceship could, then y'all would measure the light beam leaving your 'ship at the speed of light. That's considering, being a wave, light speed is independent of the speed of its source. And considering the speed of light is the same for all observers (Special Theory principle) you can never catch it upwardly. So yes you could still see where y'all are going.
John K. Bromilow, Okehampton United Kingdom
- The previous answer is correct in saying No and that everything is relative, but this Relativity does not, in itself, explain why you can't run into yourself. But considering you have no "stationary indicate" doesn't mean that you can't accept the sensation of speed equally yous approach something. In fact, as you lot approach the speed of low-cal your view develops tunnel vision, eventually resulting in everything existence squished into a singularity in front end of you. Not merely can yous non run into where you're going, you lot tin can't see anything at all. Anyway, why would you lot fit headlights to a spaceship?
Rob Lines, Streatham London
- Of course, ane more quibble is that the time dilation office of special relativity means that as you approach the speed of lite your experience of time slows downwardly (which is why particles with half-lives of a fraction of a second can survive for several seconds in accelerators) until your hypothetical astronaut at the speed of light would be unable to react to what they were seeing earlier running out of universe or terminally running into a part of information technology. Painful!
Iain Lambert, Slough, UK
- Iain is mistaken. Time dilation is entirely relative. As far as our spaceman is concerned, his experience of time would be completely normal. Also to his brother sat on World. But when the spaceman turns round and gets back abode he volition have aged more than his earth-bound brother.
Paul Brian, London UK
- Forgive me if I have missed the point but surely if you are travelling at the speed of light and then you turn on your headlamps then the low-cal coming out of the headlamps would exist effectivly coming out at twice the speed of light therefore if Einstein was right near the speed of light being the maximum speed possible then you would see nothing. Simply i'm no physicist!
Dave, Sutton
- Rather than plumbing equipment headlights, might I suggest reinforcing the windscreen? The kinetic energy of whatever dust particles, etc. you encountered will tend (if I remember rightly) to infinity equally your relative velocity tends to that of low-cal. Electromagnetic free energy (eg low-cal) coming "towards" yous volition besides be problematic. As its velocity relative to you is stock-still, its frequency (and hence energy) will increase equally you accelerate. Rather like spectral "ruddy shift" of receding galaxies, only in reverse. Fifty-fifty though a light will proceed to work well within your spaceship (and outside if, for instance, y'all remained tethered for inspecting your hull) your headlights would not help you to see "stationary" objects. Past the way, Paul's indicate about time dilation is the incorrect way circular. The more aged person would be he who stayed at rest, as time dilation is experienced by the party who experienced the acceleration. That'due south the only way to tell the two brothers apart.
Steve Ward, Lausanne Switzerland
- In relation to the 2 brothers trouble, isn't their movement simply relative to each other? In other words, from the point of view of the 1 in the rocketship, it is Globe that is moving away from him at close to the speed of low-cal (and vice versa). How then is it possible to distinguish which one should age more apace? Which 1 would be "older" if they could always come across again?
Paddy Q, London Great britain
- Paul is mistaken. It is the earth-bound brother that is older. By using the Sun as the home frame, we tin hands verify this. Since pilot is traveling at almost the speed of light, his/her clock, including their biological clock, volition move slower than the globe-bound brother. While the earth-bound brother ages t years, the pilot will age (1-b^2)^1/2(t) years.
Jared Martinez, Monrovia, USA
- I recall if a spaceship was to be able to move at the speed of light, and and so plough on its headlights, then the resulting light should be moving at 2x the speed of light. Or if not 2x the speed of light, then some other abiding because peradventure there would be refracted waves that get off in different directions. (theoretically speaking). Information technology is damn near impossible to examination and we probably don't have whatever material that would be able to withstand such a trip.
Christopher Welty, Manassas, U.s.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-18023,00.html#:~:text=His%20Special%20Theory%20of%20Relativity,the%20speed%20of%20its%20source.
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