this post was submitted on 23 May 2024
773 points (95.8% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27062 readers
1905 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Edit: Due to popular demand FatTony Search servers are down for the time being. but has gone open source just in time (Yes that's how it works ๐Ÿ˜ก) . You may now get responses from other users. Servers will be back up some time later.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] DeLacue@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago (8 children)

Given that the speed of light is the upper limit for changes to propagate through the universe; if you had a four light-year long indestructible rod and you move one end of the rod how long until the other end moves?

[โ€“] Inductor@feddit.de 17 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm not an expert, but I guess it would depend on the speed of sound in the rod.

[โ€“] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqhXsEgLMJ0 is a nice explanation.

So about 6 terayears (1.9E+20 seconds) if it's made from the same steel.

[โ€“] chetradley@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

This crashes the simulation.

Well not above the speed of light, if I read the first sentence correct.

[โ€“] tostiman@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago

Instantly, unless the rod flexes

[โ€“] ripcord@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Somewhat related: let's say you're moving at 80% the speed of light away from earth. Then you turn on a flashlight and point it away from earth.

  • How fast is the light emitted moving relative to you?
  • How fast is it moving relative to earth?
[โ€“] Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[โ€“] ripcord@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

OK, so after 1 hour:

  • How much further away are you from earth?
  • How much further away from you is the light?
  • How much further away from earth is the light?
[โ€“] Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 months ago

It depends. The light is definitely moving at c, no matter who checks and from everyone's perspective, but as a consequence of that the answers to those other questions change depending on how you measure. The coordinate system (technically the "reference frame") you choose changes the answer. Even more, time isn't the same for each frame, so you even have to specify for whom it has been 1 hour.