ChatterBank11 mins ago
flash when breaching the light barrier
so if we experience a sonic boom when travelling past the speed of sound do we encounter a flash of light when we pass the speed of light or do we just pass out and die
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by macspeedy. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
-- answer removed --
You're being a bit sloppy with the physics here guys. Nothing with any mass can travel at the speed of light in a vacuum
It was for a while thought possible that you might find particles travelling faster than light and they were given the name Tachyons but nobody ever found any so it's assumed they don't exist.
But that's another topic.
The speed of light in a material such as air or glass or water is slower than the speed of light in a vacuum. Particles can travel faster than the speed of light in a material and when they do there is indeed light given off.
This is Cherenkov radiation and is resposible for the blue glow in some reactors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiati on
It was for a while thought possible that you might find particles travelling faster than light and they were given the name Tachyons but nobody ever found any so it's assumed they don't exist.
But that's another topic.
The speed of light in a material such as air or glass or water is slower than the speed of light in a vacuum. Particles can travel faster than the speed of light in a material and when they do there is indeed light given off.
This is Cherenkov radiation and is resposible for the blue glow in some reactors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiati on
The first part of the question is rather clumsily put anyway. 'We' do not experience a sonic boom when travelling supersonically. It is the people on the ground who hear the boom shortly after the aircraft has passed. It is the reason why Concorde could never fly supersonically over inhabited land and was therefore a commercial flop.
When you say 'like over the Atlantic' you mean 'only over the Atlantic'. Concorde could not fly anywhere else because there is no equivalent open stretch of water which is economically viable. The Pacific has too many islands between the US west Coast and Japan; the Indian Ocean is clear open water but leads nowhere important that is not inland.
The incident you mention was the cause of Concorde's demise. Its economic failure had been evident from the beginning, which is why all the world's airlines cancelled the options they had on her.
The incident you mention was the cause of Concorde's demise. Its economic failure had been evident from the beginning, which is why all the world's airlines cancelled the options they had on her.
Concorde wasn't restricted to trans-Atlantic routes - it regularly flew to Bahrain too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stori es/september/26/newsid_2539000/2539049.stm
Hello Chakka, we meet again. Any hope of you coming back to R&S?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stori es/september/26/newsid_2539000/2539049.stm
Hello Chakka, we meet again. Any hope of you coming back to R&S?
Yes, naomi. I'll have to get the atlas out and work out how it got to Bahrain without flying over inhabited land or islands. I popped back to R&S briefly yesterday purely to answer Theland's enquiry after me. It seemed only courteous.
The mention of my letter in The Times will give away my identity - not that that will mean anything to anyone.
The mention of my letter in The Times will give away my identity - not that that will mean anything to anyone.
Related Questions
Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.