{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
2/6/2013 10:50:08 PM
28
Moving faster than light question
I know it's impossible to move faster than light, this is merely hypothetical.
When you move faster than light, you have infinite mass. Now, surely if that thing with infinite mass crashed into anything, wouldn't an infinite force would be produced (F=MA) ?
And wouldn't that force kinda fuck shit up?
-
This is what you asked.
-
This is a pretty accurate explanation. And you should go watch the rest of his videos, they're great.
-
Edited by Lies: 2/9/2013 8:12:35 PMMoving faster than light gives you [i]imaginary[/i] mass, not infinite mass. E = γmc^2, solve for m and substitute a speed greater than c for v in [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_factor]γ[/url]. A more precise definition is that as your velocity approaches c, energy (or mass) approaches [url=http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=limit+of+1%2Fsqrt%281-v%5E2%2Fc%5E2%29+as+v+approaches+c-]infinity[/url]. This forbids anything with mass approaching and breaking the speed of light, but special relativity does not prohibit things always traveling faster than c (i.e., tachyons). They probably do not exist though. Even given that, your example does not make sense. You are breaking the laws of physics, then asking what happens in the laws of physics. You can derive pretty much everything when you assume a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_explosion]contradiction[/url].
-
When you move at the speed of light you have infinite mass, moving faster then light means you have greater then infinite mass, which isnt possible...yet. but say something does travel at the speed of light and crashes a wall (or any stationary object), the impact force would equal to the momentum of the object travelling at the speed of light. P = m*v (v being the speed of light, m being the mass). So yeah i suppose mass being infinite at the speed of light, the resulting force would be classified as inconceivable/ unstoppable etc...
-
Look up warp theory. Its on its way to reality.
-
You can't reach the speed of light, so your theoretical example is pointless.
-
No one knows, and AFAWK, no one will ever know. True FTL travel is impossible. As far as ascertaining what happens if the impossible were to occur, we can't give anything other than a carefully worded SWAG ([i]Scientific Wild Ass Guess[/i]).
-
You're confusing force with momentum.
-
Edited by CrazzySnipe55: 2/9/2013 5:57:52 AMKind of relevant. e: also relevant: [url]http://what-if.xkcd.com/20/[/url]
-
If that were to happen i guess we would be obliterated in lower than a second because we, of course would not be able to see the explosion and im guessing that explosion (well not explosion really but what ever you would classified this as) would kill us humans
-
7 RepliesI'm not a physicist, but momentum probably stops its increase in speed after reaching the speed of light, so P=MA is probably not universally true.
-
Technically you can't multiply by infinity.
-
Edited by annoyinginge: 2/8/2013 10:41:23 PMThe equations of Newtonian physics are not entirely accurate. They're approximations. In everyday scenarios, the differences between the answers they give and the "actual" answers are negligible, so we take them as correct. But for an extreme scenario - an extremely high-gravity environment, or a sub-atomic scale, or for an object moving at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light - the difference between the Newtonian approximation and the truth is so massive the equations are entirely useless. So in your hypothetical situation, [i]F = ma[/i] goes out the window. In fact, seeing as you're talking about above-light speeds, I doubt the equations of special relativity or even M-theory would apply. So we really have no way of knowing what would happen. I also don't think you can claim with any certainty that an above-[i]c[/i] particle would have an infinite mass.
-
Who said you have infinite mass? Don't you mean infinite energy? If you had infinite mass, you wouldn't be going anywhere since it would probably take more energy than what's in the universe to move you.
-
idk why but that last sentence made me laugh for a good while
-
3 RepliesI think you got a little mixed up. In order top hypothetically reach the speed of light you would need absolutely zero mass, so to exceed it having infinite mass is out of the question. But assuming your statement is correct, it would indeed cause some damage.
-
2 RepliesIsn't the theory that by moving faster than light you time travel or something of that nature?
-
[url=http://youtu.be/mk7VWcuVOf0?t=1m43s]Most scientists agree that you go plaid.[/url]
-
4 RepliesYeah. I wonder what it would look like traveling at FTL speeds. Since the colors you see are just reflections of light, and you are moving faster than light, what would that look like?
-
21 RepliesEdited by realdomdom: 2/6/2013 11:11:43 PMIf anything has infinite mass, it's gravitational field would be infinite, thus eliminating itself, space and time completely. There.
-
7 RepliesEdited by Pulse Cloud: 2/7/2013 3:15:20 AM[quote]When you move faster than light, you have infinite mass.[/quote] wat Anyway, your momentum (mass * velocity), aka "quantity of movement" would be pretty spectacular, so yes, it would indeed -blam!- shit up (because you're, well, a fat man). Why is my "-blam!-" censored and the OP's not?
-
The other way to look at it is that it would take an infinite amount of energy to exceed the speed of light. So to achieve FTL speeds, you'd need to use up all the energy/mass in the universe "and then some," so you'd have (less than nothing) to run into at that point. But yeah, by the math, you'd destroy the universe either way.
-
the force produced by a collision at just half of light speed would already -blam!- shit up.
-
8 RepliesYou can move FTL if you have 0 mass
-
Yeah, that's kind of why you can't move faster then light. Stuff would stop making any sense at all.
-
Yes, it would be pretty much impossible to stop. Luckily it would require infinite energy to accelerate the mass to that speed so there isn't much to worry about.
