/sci/ - Science & Math

each photon is just a little Ahnold... muscling its way to your eyes

inb4 shitstorm

im srs guys explain to me

if you know two variables, you can solve for the 3rd

Measure it over a long distance, faggot.

>>1936615
I know how to measure light speed but I want to know what's making it go that speed.

While this may not answer your question exactly I found it interesting when I first heard it. When scientists were working with electromagnetism long before electricity became a household thing they uncovered a number of anomalies that went against what was observed in experiment. These allowed them to iron out their theories. However, there was one anomaly that could not at first be accounted for. It predicted that under certain conditions there would be emitted electromagnetic radiation at what we now know as the speed of light. They tried very hard at first to work out what was wrong but eventually they realized that light itself is a form of this radiation.

>>1936578
Light doesn't move. At the speed of light there is no time, so the photon is simultaneously in every place it will ever be... a standing wave.

becowz de light atohmz, dey are running to da chohpahhh

>>1936631

you just dont know a shit right?

>>1936617
Light is a electromagnetic wave.
Hence it is goverened by maxwell's equations.
If you derive the wave function from maxwell's equation you get a wave with velocity.
v = 1/sqrt(ε0μ0)
which gives you value of c.

>>1936650
I see so maxwell made an equation and that equation is pushing the light at light speed. Interesting

>>1936578
a teacher told me that light (photons) moved that fast cuz they didnt have mass to carry

>>1936631
Then the stars in the sky we see would be from right now and not years ago.

You can calculate the speed of light with some marshmallows and a microwave.

fill a microwavable plate with marshmallows... absolutely pack them on. You want a complete layer. Then microwave the plate for about 20 seconds... make sure whatever mechanism the microwave has for rotating what it's cooking is turned OFF.

Because of the way the emitter works, your marshmallows will have expanded in peaks and troughs. Measure the distance between the peaks. On the back of your microwave you'll find a plaque that lists frequency of the microwave's microwaves.

Discerning the speed of light from those two measurements is left as an exercise for the reader.

>>1936668
No, time only ceases to exist from the perspective of the photon. For the rest of us, it's only "traveling" at c. We can't measure it without stopping it, though... so it doesn't exist in any fixed location on its path. It exists everywhere between where it is emitted and where it is absorbed or reflected.

No one knows why light moves the speed it does. Its a universal constant.

>>1936697
Only one who understood OP's question.

What is time?

Why does a photon travel at the speed it does?

1. because of our number system
2. because it's measured in our seconds
3.

>>1936697
Finally.

>>1936712
And why is it so different from the other 3?

>>1936712
distance divided by speed

>>1936756
it isn't in any way other than perceptually

>>1936716
Imypling photons would move at different speeds if we counted differently

>>1936765
But we can traverse as far left, right, up, down, forward, or backward as far as we want, but our steady travel through time isn't remotely similar, even if you factor in time dilation, it's totally different.

>>1936769
They would. The speed of a photon is 1; everything else is 0. In binary, the speed's different. The speed of light just happens to be what it is because of our number system. The value depends on the units used to express it.

>>1936795
I sure hope you're misunderstanding what he's saying because the implications of your response are staggering.

They used the wave formula velocity = frequency x wavelength. You just need to know the frequency and the wavelength of the light to determine its velocity. This formula was discovered by studying other waves.

>>1936578
Are you asking "why" or "how?" Because those are two completely separate questions.

>>1936578
Physics is not derived from mathematics. Mathematics is not science. Physics is a science, and thus it is derived from objective evidence from the natural world.

Why is the speed of light the number it is? Scientists don't know. It just is, because that's what the evidence says.

It's possible that we might find another theory which explains the speed of light.

However, at some point, the tree of laws will terminate with some set of scientific theories which are themselves not derived from any other theory. The roots would come from evidence only.

bump

I think I understand OP's question
Why does light move at that speed? Why not 10 miles a second slower?

>>1936847
>Physics is not derived from mathematics.

lolwut?

>>1939341

>miles a second

This is /sci/. We use the metric system.

/x/ is that way ------------------------------>

<------------------------- /new/ is that way

Light travels at this speed in order to outpace its natural predator, sound.

But really, it's just a constant. What's the point of gravity? Why is there matter? If light was slower, it would be slower; faster, it would be faster. It's a be. It just bes.

If it suddenly started traveling at a different speed, yeah maybe we'd need to rethink things.

philosophy is not a science. gtfo

>>1936578
Think of wind resistance and a car, there comes a point where the amount of power a car can provide equals the amount of wind resistance in the atmosphere. This is the fastest that car can go. More powerful car, and/or better aerodynamics will equal a faster car. Light is the same way. The energy of the photon is pitted against the latent dark matter/energy of the universe. That is how you get the natural speed of light. Light can be slowed down using various methods. However, since people can't grasp what dark matter/energy is yet, manipulation of that medium to speed up light is currently impossible.

Sorry if this sounds not right, english isn't my first language.

>>1939427
>/sci/
>all theories are shit
That kinda makes sense. You're doing it wrong.

>>1936578
Because it's moving at 0 speed, the pinnacle of speed, the being other than no-being, the shit me and you are made out of.

The measurement is done by insane scientists who see stars in the sky, and literally think that the light takes years to travel to earth.

BUUUUURP!