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• How can the speed of light not be the maximun?

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How can the speed of light not be the maximun?

Question

May 15, 2009

In the section on the speed of light. You state that is a misnomer because light itself cannot reach that speed. If we call " the speed of light " c how was this theoretical speed determined if not by measuring the actual speed of light? Was it Lorentz or Einstein who first expressed the c factor?

Aldo - USA

17751

Answer

Just as Absolute Zero is an entity that never can be reached, so too is "c" a limitation property of space. Light particles or photons have zero rest mass, but they exhibit properties of mass such as momentum when traveling at the speed of light. We aren't sure if there are other particles, such as gravitons, that may travel at a slightly greater speed than the speed of light.

Whatever the case, the difference between the speed of light and "c" is so small that we can consider them equal. My comments on them may be simply nitpicking.

Einstein formulated the mathematics for his theory of special relativity, which proposed that the speed of light was a limitation, while Lorentz explained various phenomena that occurred when objects approach to the speed of light. This was named the Lorentz transformation.

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