# Why Does Light Travel So Fast?



## fmdog44

I am looing for an explanation that is brief if possible.


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## jujube

Because it's "light".  If it was "heavy", it would travel slower.  Brief enough?


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## RadishRose

It doesn't travel "so fast". It travels the normal speed it is meant to.


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## Repondering

Visible light, all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, travel at lightspeed......it's one of the constants of the universe.  
 Why does matter bend spacetime through gravity?  Why is there something rather than nothing?  When did time start?  
There are no brief explanations fmdog.


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## Judycat

Photons are constantly trying to catch a wave.


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## Warrigal

I was going to say "to get to the other side of the road" but how about light travels so fast because unlike sound, it does not require a physical medium for transmission. It can pass easily through the vacuum of space. It slows down when it enters earth's atmosphere and this is what causes refraction (bending) of light rays and separation of the rays into the visible spectrum i.e. the colours of the rainbow.


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## Em in Ohio

Warrigal said:


> I was going to say "to get to the other side of the road" but how about light travels so fast because unlike sound, it does not require a physical medium for transmission. It can pass easily through the vacuum of space. It slows down when it enters earth's atmosphere and this is what causes refraction (bending) of light rays and separation of the rays into the visible spectrum i.e. the colours of the rainbow.


Thanks for actually providing an answer to fmdog's question, "Why does light travel so fast?"

Additional data from Google:

"The speed of light in a vacuum is 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second), and in theory nothing can travel faster than light. In miles per hour, light speed is, well, a lot: about 670,616,629 mph." 

"Albert Einstein showed that light is the fundamental speed limit in the universe. Nothing with mass can move as fast as light."


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## fmdog44

You all left out the concept of "time".


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## fmdog44

jujube said:


> Because it's "light".  If it was "heavy", it would travel slower.  Brief enough?


Yeah, I don't think so.


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## fmdog44

Repondering said:


> Visible light, all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, travel at lightspeed......it's one of the constants of the universe.
> Why does matter bend spacetime through gravity?  Why is there something rather than nothing?  When did time start?
> There are no brief explanations fmdog.


Agreed, when we figure what gravity is perhaps some answer will come with the answer. Gravity slows the speed of light because the shortest distance between two points is a straight line so when light bends it slows arrival time. Another question: why is their dark energy?


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## Repondering

fmdog44 said:


> Agreed, when we figure what gravity is perhaps some answer will come with the answer. Gravity slows the speed of light because the shortest distance between two points is a straight line so when light bends it slows arrival time. Another question: why is their dark energy?



Why is there dark energy.......?  WHAT is dark energy?  What is dark matter?  Is the universe infinite?  Does it just keep on going?  Are there other universes?  Has there always been something rather than nothing and did it never have a beginning because it was always there and will it never have an end?  Is time infinite too?  Was the Big Bang just a punctuation mark in an infinitely perpetual cosmos?
And in the quantum world, how come just observing events with our consciousness changes the outcome of those events?
And if consciousness exists in the same universe with various fields like the electromagnetic spectrum, gravity and the subatomic fields that hold fundamental particles in place, then can it be inferred that consciousness and those fields have some form of relationship?  So what is that relationship?  
Actually, I'm not expecting answers to any of that on this forum.  But it's encouraging to me that the subjects are raised.  I seem to recall learning that one of the ladies here has been reading about quantum mechanics.........


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## fmdog44

How about this item on the rate of expansion at the big bang taken from the book The Grand Design by Stephan Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.
"The universe expanded by a factor of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in .00000000000000000000000000000000001 second. It was as if a coin  one centimeter in diameter suddenly blew up to ten million times the width of the Milky Way. That may seem to violate relativity, which dictates nothing can move faster than the speed of light, but that speed limit does not apply to the expansion of pace itself."


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## fmdog44

Repondering said:


> Why is there dark energy.......?  WHAT is dark energy?  What is dark matter?  Is the universe infinite?  Does it just keep on going?  Are there other universes?  Has there always been something rather than nothing and did it never have a beginning because it was always there and will it never have an end?  Is time infinite too?  Was the Big Bang just a punctuation mark in an infinitely perpetual cosmos?
> And in the quantum world, how come just observing events with our consciousness changes the outcome of those events?
> And if consciousness exists in the same universe with various fields like the electromagnetic spectrum, gravity and the subatomic fields that hold fundamental particles in place, then can it be inferred that consciousness and those fields have some form of relationship?  So what is that relationship?
> Actually, I'm not expecting answers to any of that on this forum.  But it's encouraging to me that the subjects are raised.  I seem to recall learning that one of the ladies here has been reading about quantum mechanics.........


To some point you note there are no answers.


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## fmdog44

Judycat said:


> Photons are constantly trying to catch a wave.


So, if you think photons only travel 0.1 millimeters between crashes, it will take more than *half a million years* for the photon to escape the sun. If you think it's about a centimeter, then it will take *about 5,000 years* for the photon to get outside the sun.


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## Judycat

Photons travel at light speed because they have no resting mass but they do have kinetic energy.


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## fmdog44

Judycat said:


> Photons travel at light speed because they have no resting mass but they do have kinetic energy.


So?


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## Judycat

So nothing. I just googled how fast a photon travels and saw that tidbit.


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## Warrigal

Before you all blow up your brains trying to solve the deep mysteries of the Universe, allow me inject a personal insight.

Some years ago I decided to take a course at the theological college. It was called God in Creation and was very interesting. One strand of the course looked at the historical ideas of the ancient world, creation myths in the Bible and the emergence of early scientific ideas about the nature of the cosmos. I could handle all of this but there was another strand that just about did my head in. It is called Theodicy and examines the paradox of God being all good, all knowing and all powerful. When considering the existence of evil it is difficult, if not impossible, to accept all three attributes. 

Throughout the ages philosophers have put forward various attempts to reconcile this paradox. The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis is one of the earliest and is widely accepted to this day by many people but I could not but think that this story just illustrated that the Creator was either stupid for not knowing what would happen when the first humans were faced with a powerful temptation or if he/she/it did know then God was being mean in setting up a couple of naïve creatures for a fall. The traditional explanation did not satisfy me in the least.

Then we looked at more modern attempts to explain why God allows evil to exist in the world. To me, each seemed tortuous and after a while the whole subject was doing my head in.  As I was mentally wrestling with this conundrum a flash of insight came to me. A voice in my head said, "This is the wrong question. The right question to consider is 'Who is my neighbour?' "

An obvious reference to the parable of the Good Samaritan, this has been the question that I took away from this course. I no longer spend too much time and mental energy on esoteric questions that I cannot wrap my mind around. I have always been interested in science, in particular cosmology, but I refuse to drive myself crazy trying to understand it all. This does not mean I have lost interest but it does mean that I have not forgotten that my first thought must always be for how the discoveries of the scientists are being used here on earth. We must have concern for how the applications of scientific knowledge are used to benefit or oppress the inhabitants of planet earth. 

Over time I have come to see all of creation, life forms from the tiny ants to the largest whales, and peoples from every land and culture, as my neighbours. By night I look up at the heavens and am filled with awe and wonder. By day I look around me and see beauty in the trees, the birds and even the insects. In my travels around the world I noticed that children everywhere are beautiful and this has helped me to empathise with people experiencing pain and suffering because we all want our children to be happy and to thrive.

So, my takeaway? Ponder the deep questions by all means but don't forget to look up at the stars and appreciate the majesty and beauty of the Universe. Remember to look around you and see the faces of people of every race and culture. They are our family and, like us, they are made of the same stuff that we are. Spare some of your mental energy to consider their welfare because that is one question we can actually find answers to.

Sorry about the diversion. I couldn't help myself.


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## fmdog44

Warrigal said:


> Before you all blow up your brains trying to solve the deep mysteries of the Universe, allow me inject a personal insight.
> 
> Some years ago I decided to take a course at the theological college. It was called God in Creation and was very interesting. One strand of the course looked at the historical ideas of the ancient world, creation myths in the Bible and the emergence of early scientific ideas about the nature of the cosmos. I could handle all of this but there was another strand that just about did my head in. It is called Theodicy and examines the paradox of God being all good, all knowing and all powerful. When considering the existence of evil it is difficult, if not impossible, to accept all three attributes.
> 
> Throughout the ages philosophers have put forward various attempts to reconcile this paradox. The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis is one of the earliest and is widely accepted to this day by many people but I could not but think that this story just illustrated that the Creator was either stupid for not knowing what would happen when the first humans were faced with a powerful temptation or if he/she/it did know then God was being mean in setting up a couple of naïve creatures for a fall. The traditional explanation did not satisfy me in the least.
> 
> Then we looked at more modern attempts to explain why God allows evil to exist in the world. To me, each seemed tortuous and after a while the whole subject was doing my head in.  As I was mentally wrestling with this conundrum a flash of insight came to me. A voice in my head said, "This is the wrong question. The right question to consider is 'Who is my neighbour?' "
> 
> An obvious reference to the parable of the Good Samaritan, this has been the question that I took away from this course. I no longer spend too much time and mental energy on esoteric questions that I cannot wrap my mind around. I have always been interested in science, in particular cosmology, but I refuse to drive myself crazy trying to understand it all. This does not mean I have lost interest but it does mean that I have not forgotten that my first thought must always be for how the discoveries of the scientists are being used here on earth. We must have concern for how the applications of scientific knowledge are used to benefit or oppress the inhabitants of planet earth.
> 
> Over time I have come to see all of creation, life forms from the tiny ants to the largest whales, and peoples from every land and culture, as my neighbours. By night I look up at the heavens and am filled with awe and wonder. By day I look around me and see beauty in the trees, the birds and even the insects. In my travels around the world I noticed that children everywhere are beautiful and this has helped me to empathise with people experiencing pain and suffering because we all want our children to be happy and to thrive.
> 
> So, my takeaway? Ponder the deep questions by all means but don't forget to look up at the stars and appreciate the majesty and beauty of the Universe. Remember to look around you and see the faces of people of every race and culture. They are our family and, like us, they are made of the same stuff that we are. Spare some of your mental energy to consider their welfare because that is one question we can actually find answers to.
> 
> Sorry about the diversion. I couldn't help myself.


Move this to a religious section.


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## Judycat

I forgot what the original question was.


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## Warrigal

Sorry fmdog. There was a time when science and physics and religious philosophy were all interrelated topics.

I can't move my post. Would you like me to delete it?


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## Repondering

Science and religion are interrelated and eventually inquiries following both paths will find them meeting in a confluence, like two rivers.
In my opinion.

And don't delete your post please, Warrigal.


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## asp3

It’s kind of like the chicken and egg problem.  If you believe in evolution the egg comes first, if you believe that God created the animals the chicken comes first.

Either that’s what happened in the Big Bang or that’s what God decided it should be.


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## fmdog44

asp3 said:


> It’s kind of like the chicken and egg problem.  If you believe in evolution the egg comes first, if you believe that God created the animals the chicken comes first.
> 
> Either that’s what happened in the Big Bang or that’s what God decided it should be.


But God created the Earth in six days, 6,000 years ago. Don't believe me, ask a dinosaur.


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## fmdog44

Warrigal said:


> Sorry fmdog. There was a time when science and physics and religious philosophy were all interrelated topics.
> 
> I can't move my post. Would you like me to delete it?


You yourself said you could not help yourself so perhaps some self control exercises would be in order. In the days you reference when all three were blended was many centuries ago when ignorance was a powerful influence on the time-spirit of society to the point of being executed for believing one way or another.


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## fmdog44

Repondering said:


> Science and religion are interrelated and eventually inquiries following both paths will find them meeting in a confluence, like two rivers.
> In my opinion.
> 
> And don't delete your post please, Warrigal.


Religion is one thing, faith. Science is one thing, fact. Not related in any way.


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## Repondering

fmdog44 said:


> Religion is one thing, faith. Science is one thing, fact. Not related in any way.



You're entitled to your opinion.


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## Warrigal

Your point is noted, fmdog.


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## fmdog44

Repondering said:


> You're entitled to your opinion.


Oh, thank you so much for your permission to post fact versus BS lies.


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## Pete

[QUOTE="Em in Ohio, post: 
"Albert Einstein showed that light is the fundamental speed limit in the universe.
**** Nothing with mass can move as fast as light."
[/QUOTE]

...Einstein has shown the reason nothing can travel faster is because

as anything approaches the speed of light its mass increases
since this cannot be overcome 
nothing will travel faster.


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## fmdog44

Pete said:


> [QUOTE="Em in Ohio, post:
> "Albert Einstein showed that light is the fundamental speed limit in the universe.
> **** Nothing with mass can move as fast as light."



...Einstein has shown the reason nothing can travel faster is because

as anything approaches the speed of light its mass increases
since this cannot be overcome
nothing will travel faster.
[/QUOTE]
The Big Bang was faster then the speed of light. At the point of the Big Bang there were no physics.


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