The Speed Of Light
Added 2023-01-16 22:17:36 +0000 UTCHey Patrons,
Here is the first video in a new series of videos that we are making for our patrons. You will get early access to these videos and you can also send us in your suggestions on topics to info@theskepticsguide.org
New videos should come out every week!
-Jay
Comments
It tells me this video is private. Is it still available?
Lisa Ertolahti
2023-02-23 02:29:12 +0000 UTCWhen I try to play this video it says it's private and will not play. The subsequent videos play correctly. Can this be fixed?
Steve Solomon
2023-02-05 16:56:04 +0000 UTCThis video, on the speed of light, is not loading. Is it still available?
Don DeNatale
2023-01-31 21:58:32 +0000 UTCVirtual meatball particles being annihilated by a hungry Jay
Greg Bell
2023-01-17 22:56:53 +0000 UTCNo one has ever succeeded in measuring this due to the infinitely small lifetime of the meatball before it disappears into Jay's mouth.
Buzz Parsec
2023-01-17 22:41:40 +0000 UTCYou need a slightly better physicist than me to explain why an object in motion has more mass than the same object at rest. (I used to understand this; it is about the 2nd week of a course in special relativity, but my brain is getting old and I can't remember the simple explanation off the top of my head. :-(... ) The important thing is to remember the increased mass is only applicable in a frame of reference where the object is moving. In a frame where the object is stationary (like a person on board the very fast space ship) the objects mass is its rest mass. There are an infinite number of frames of reference, so any object's mass is different in any of them. I THINK the explanation is that an object moving at any velocity has kinetic energy equal to 1/2 m * v^2 (where m is its mass and v is its velocity), and that energy itself has mass according to e=mc^2. As the velocity increases, the kinetic energy increases as the square of the mass, so the relativistic apparent mass increases as the square of the velocity. When the velocity reaches c (the speed of light), the apparent (or relativistic) mass is infinite. Unless the rest mass is zero, which implies the object is pure energy (like a photon or a graviton.) That's why a real object made of matter CAN'T travel at the speed of light and a object made of pure energy MUST travel at the speed of light. Someone who remembers their college physics better than me could explain this much more clearly (and why e=mc^c is true) but no one else has (so far), so I jumped in.
Buzz Parsec
2023-01-17 22:14:14 +0000 UTCMore importantly, what's the time zone on the North Pole? :)
Oliwia Bieniek
2023-01-17 17:52:21 +0000 UTCWhat is the maximum possible speed we could accelerate a meatball?
Greg Bell
2023-01-17 16:04:14 +0000 UTCWrong, the speed of Light is Pi.. it's just that our meters and seconds are wrong.
Elux Lucis Productions
2023-01-17 13:36:59 +0000 UTCI don't think it's exactly right that your ship gets more and more massive as you approach near SoL. It will look that way to an external observer, but if you're on board you won't collapse to the floor under your own weight, nor will your watch or heart beat slow down. Your perception will be that the distance ahead of you shrinks - so you'll keep on reaching your destination/distance marker before the speedo ever gets to c.
Steve Nerlich
2023-01-17 10:13:29 +0000 UTCThanks! Will an audio version come out on the podcast feed too?
Nicholas
2023-01-16 23:42:58 +0000 UTCSteveGPT...
James Burke
2023-01-16 22:50:15 +0000 UTCGood one! But if you'd listened to George Hrab discussing reduplicates, you'd realize your name is really Drack Drock.
Martin Werr
2023-01-16 22:31:13 +0000 UTCBut what is the speed of light on the North Pole? When are you going to start asking the real questions!?
Drock Drack
2023-01-16 22:19:30 +0000 UTC
