-
Asked by hello12345 to Colin on 17 Jun 2013.
Question: If you' were traveling at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what would happen?
- Keywords:
-
Colin Dick answered on 17 Jun 2013:
Hi there – I really have no idea! If you’re travelling at the speed of light, then you should be celebrating your achievement =)
I guess the answer is that the headlights would actually light up the road behind your car. The only reason I think this is because when an aeroplane flies really fast (faster than the speed of sound, about 340m/s usually) it leaves all the sound behind it. If you’ve ever been to an airshow then you’ll notice that you can’t hear the aeroplane until it’s past you. It’s an amazing phenomenon!
Cheers,
Colin.
Comments
Steve commented on :
<>
That seems perfectly logical but I think it’s wrong. Einstein’s theory of relativity states that the speed of light is fixed, everyone always measures it going the same speed, no matter what speed they are travelling themselves. You can’t outrun light in the same way you can with sound. So if you’re travelling (very close to) the speed of light (it’s not possible to actually get there according to the theory) and you turn your headlights on, you will see the light moving away from you just as fast as you normally would.
Steve commented on :
sorry, don’t know why the quote got scrubbed by I was talking about where you said
“I guess the answer is that the headlights would actually light up the road behind your car.”
Colin commented on :
Think you’ve got it sussed Steve! It’s melted my brain thinking about it =)
piwikiwi3 commented on :
What if you were going faster than the speed of light? Would the headlight’s light get left behind?
Christina commented on :
I agree with Steve – the weird thing about relativity and the speed of light is that (in a vacuum) you always see it travelling the same speed no matter how fast you;re going…