Why we can't reach the speed of light?

[Egon]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Gosh; if Rambo is watching colour changes then he definetly must be associated with the speed of light !!??

Egon

 

[Egon]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Awh, just pack a 44 magnum or sawed of 12 gauge loaded wit 00 buck and all those worries will go away.

Egon

 

[Egon]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Well gooly gee why try to incite the horn blower by personel confrontation. Just stop, get out, open hood and gaze at engine in perplexled manner. After several light changes hornblower may even come up to offer assistance.

Egon

 

[cstocks]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Why not just kill 'em with kindness? Nothing wilts an angry driver like a big, sincere smile and a hearty wave. I know it can work because I was on the receiving end of such treatment several years ago.

A female driver had irritated me to the point of me losing my temper. It was obvious to her because she could see the steam coming from my ears, the angry look on my face, the waving arms and the ratchet jaw in motion. Instead of responding in kind she simply smiled and waved at me and drove off. She sure let the wind out of my sails! I felt like moron for letting my temper flare up.

Better glad than mad! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Ozarker]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

The 12 ga is in the trunk if needed. A .44 mag is unsuitable for defense. Apologies to Dirty Harry.

 

[Egon]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Thats the easiest way and most satisfying too.

Egon

 

[Trev]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

I know this is just a little "thought experiment", but imagine holding a laser pointer of the sort you use when giving a lecture.

Now imagine waving it around. At some point, way far out there, the horizontal movement of the beam of light would have to exceed the speed of light, no? We are talking way out there, of course.

Bob

 

[patrickg]

Re: Why we can\'t reach the speed of light?

Bob, Nice try, inventive, and creative but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Think of this "thought experiment": You fire a tommy gun at the side of your barn from a fair distance (tractor safely removed) while moving the muzzle horizontally. The bullets go in the barn in a line along the wall (nice shooting Bob). The bullets exit the second wall of the barn also making a line just with holes farther apart. If you sight through the pairs of holes they all line up with your shooting position. Any sideward velocity vector imparted to the rounds is constant and does not violate conservation of angular momentum. For the bullets to accelerate sideways after leaving the muzzle there would have to be force applied to them during their flight. Photons are like that too. The individual photons' direction is not along the imaginary line you are scribing with your light saber err ahh I mean laser pointer.

You could think of a sling like David used to slay Goliath. No matter how hard/fast he whirled his rock, once released it went in a straight line (plus or minus any curve ball effect due to air friction) except for the parabolic arc downward due to gravity.


Take a garden hose and fire a stream of water then move your point of aim in a horizontal arc. The individual drops of water go out from you radially not in a spiral. The only curve in their flight is a parabola opening downward as gravity accelerates them toward the ground. Admittedly the path they take will make an optical illusion for some folks and look like they are curving horizontal but they aren't. If you are unconvinced, try to "shoot" around the corner of a building by curving the flight path of the water and that will take care of that notion.

Patrick