Crazy Physics Question

[oldjones]

The real question is: When your desk is lit by the room light, and then you turn on the desk lamp, how much does the extra light weigh down the desktop? How much extra light will it take to crush it?

 

[Brandon123]

There's nothing faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. That's different than the speed at which a photon travels through a medium like glass. In the nuclear reactor some particles are accelerated to high speeds and pass through material faster than the speed of photons travel through that material, but still slower than the speed of light in a vacuum.

That explains it.

 

[Yoga Face]

Credit to the OP for an interesting thread, but I was unable to google the article in question. Can someone post up this article?

Do not bother

It was a casual statement is their science column and there is no further explanation than in my original post

 

[Yoga Face]

The real question is: When your desk is lit by the room light, and then you turn on the desk lamp, how much does the extra light weigh down the desktop? How much extra light will it take to crush it?

Does light have mass ?

I know that it would take infinite mass to travel at the speed of light unless you are light

 

[Mervyn]

Does light have mass ?

I know that it would take infinite mass to travel at the speed of light unless you are light

I believe it does't have mass but it does have momentum, which could affect a desk.

But that much light might end up vaporizing the desking long before it physically crushes it.

 

[OnlySex]

There's nothing faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.

I know this is a little embarrassing for you but - you've never heard of a warp drive ? Next you'll say Gene Roddenbury made it all up !

 

[fuji]

I know this is a little embarrassing for you but - you've never heard of a warp drive ? Next you'll say Gene Roddenbury made it all up !

Haha. But even warp drive doesn't purport to violate the speed of light principle. It purports to bend (warp) space so that sub-light travel across the folded surface skips large areas.

Ol' Gene knew his shit!

 

[GPIDEAL]

There's nothing faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. That's different than the speed at which a photon travels through a medium like glass. In the nuclear reactor some particles are accelerated to high speeds and pass through material faster than the speed of photons travel through that material, but still slower than the speed of light in a vacuum.

I thought that quarks or other sub-atomic particles might travel faster than the speed of light?