if a partical of light can accellerate,how con it be stopped?
547699
Its a myth that thought is particularly fast- We can measure the speed that signals travel along nerves, in the spinal cord, brain, etc, and it's around 20-60 meters/second.  Not nearly as fast as light (186,000 miles/second).  Photons don't "accelerate" to the speed of light-that speed is a stable property of photons, thus they are going that speed at the instant they are created-they dont start from motionlessness and speed up.\n*edit* Mich is right-light can be slowed and accelerated, but again, a photon upon creation does not accelerate to it's maximum speed (whatever that is given the medium that it's in)-it starts life going at that speed.  All light does *not* travel at 186,000 miles/sec- that is the speed of light in a vacuum-the speed varies with the medium that light is traveling through.  The speed of light through normal clear glass, for example, is around 120,000 miles/sec.
970195
This is one of the oldest questions in the world, after Einstein came out with his special relativity.  The answer is that no matter how fast you are going, your headlight beam is STILL shining ahead at the speed of light. This is exactly what the equations say, and it works.  If it wasn't true, then all the giant particle smashers in the world costing billions of dollars wouldn't even work.
125793
basic principles of wave propigation. a body in motion tends to stay in motion. if what you're saying is the vacuum is deviod of all matter, including subatomic particles, the wave would continue forever, with one exception. if the beam reflecting around the room collided with itself (say it caught itself in a corner), it would cause sufficient refraction to scatter the beam eventually. photons expend no energy to travel, so the room would stay lit up forever. and man, that would have to be some badass 100% reflective material! ;->
334395
Light is cool stuff.It acts like radiation but when it hits something it act like a particle.You cant see light until it hits something and it releases its energy.So most of the light after you turn the switch off hits something and ceases to be but a very small amount might be lucky to shine out to open sky and even less might leave earth.It will keep going till it hits something all happening at the speed of light.Like looking at very distant stars ,its taken billions of years for the light to reach us.The star is long gone switched off but we are still seeing the light from it very diffused but what we see hasn't hit anything on its journey and it's an infinitely small amount of what originally left that star/sun
666930
less light makes it to your eye
1088204
it depends on the fine partcles of water through which the light rays pass.if the condition is simulated it can remain for quite some time.
1113063
No. It's the gravity they can't escape. (Light is ultimately made up of particles.) Speed is not an issue.
923435
light travels as fast as it always travels, no matter what it shines through. Things block light, but it doesn't slow it down.
960079
You've lost the point of the equation.  Squaring the speed of light will give you the energy released, not an enhanced speed of light.
113625
The car, you, and the headlights would no longer exist.  Light would continue at its usual speed.
400598
All of the light "floating" in the air is composed of photons which are eventually absorbed by the atoms in the room and converted into heat.  This heat eventually dissapates through the walls and radiates outside the room.  Of course, there is an imperceptable delay between when the last photon leaves the light and is absorbed by the walls, but this happens at the speed of light and can't be seen by you or me.
8756
Unless the reflective surface is perfect (which is impossible in the real world) the light will loose a little energy with each reflection (the mirror will heat up a little), and in a very short time the light will just get redder until it is merged into whatever infrared energy is inside the sphere.
470750
Ernie... I love this question..  it rocks.\n\nThe answer, however, is going to be just a little dissappointing.\n\nAs I'm sure you know, all light is both a particle and a wave; it is a form of nearly pure energy.  As we know from theoretical physics, energy can never be created, nor can it be destroyed.  It just changes forms.  According to the third law of thermodynamics, energy always goes from higher to lower forms when left on its own, the lowest form of energy often being considered to be heat.  And that's where your wandering, amazing laserlight goes, it turns to heat.  \n\nWhy?\n\nBecause your room of mirrors is completely imperfect.  Your mirrors are dismally inefficient reflectors of light, and the room is full of air.  Household mirrors actually reflect less than 25% of the light energy that shines on them back to you.  Lab quality mirrors made for laser work are, I believe, in the high 80% to low 90% reflectivity efficiency range.  Every time your beam hits a mirror surface and bounces off, it looses more of its energy to heat..  just as it does as it passes thrugh every atom and molicule that makes up the air in the room as well.  Your laser might make it one or two 'miles' of beam length in the room before it is bouncing around.. which would make for thousands of beams.  But, since light travels at 186,000 miles per second, your two mile beam lasts 1/93,000th of a second after you turn the power off before it's gone.  So, it DOES keep going.. but not long enough for you to percieve it.\n\nSo, IF you had perfect mirrors, IN a perfect sphere (remember; you couldn't have any corners!) a COMPLETE vacium inside it with NO particles of dust of ANY kind, and a way to fire the beam into the amazing sphere without leaving any void for energy to escape...  your theory would work, if all that were PERFECT.  But; the biggest catch would be; you could never know if it were working!  Because to find out; you would have to have a void in the sphere to see or measure it...  and measuring any energy source draws energy from it.. so, there goes your light again.\n\nSo, that's why, but it's still a great question.  Theoretical Physics is full of stuff like that...  and thinking about it will turn your brain into silly putty for days.  Keep 'em coming, Ernie..  you've got a great future if you keep your mind working like that.
27573
No. There is no practical possibility. Humans can't travel at a speed equal to or greater than that of light.
122048
Peple I know you want the points, but can you please not just make up answers out of whole cloth like that?\n\n>>>>>Massive objects cannot go the speed of light.\n\nYeah, they can. They can't accellarate to the speed of light but they can be created at lightspeed and continue on.\n\n>>>>>> However if they could, no you could not see, becuase the light could not go furthur then the builbs at the front of your car\n\nNonsense. The speed of light is constant for all frames of reference. From the FOR of the bulbs the light would be seen travelling away from it at lightspeed. \n\n>>>> You'd be seeing the light go by your side.\n\nNo, you would not be seeing the light by your side. You would still be seeing all light in the universe travelling away form you or towards you at the speed of light, just as you do at your current velocity\n>>>>>The light would not shine out in front of you because you are going the same speed.\n\nIncorrect. Light always sines out in front at lightspeed in the observers FOR. It makes no difference if that FOR is stationary or lightspeed itself.\n\nYou quite obviously made that answer up.\n\nws, this question seems to get asked here every couple of days. You can go back and have a look and see it answered quite well several times.\n\nIn brief,\n\nLight is funny stuff. Light always travels at the same speed relative to you, it doens't matter how fast you travel. \n\nIf you are sitting still and a person is going past you at light speed you can both look at exactly the same light beam, and it will be travelling at lightspeed compared to both of you.\n\nIf you are going at lightspeed and turn on the headlights the light will move away fomr you at lightspeed. If it strikes something it will be refelected back at lightspeed. If someone is sitting completely still beside you he will also see that light move away form him at lightspeed, and get reflected back at lightspeed.\n\nIt's weird stuff light, it doesn't behave like anything else. The answer to any question that asks how fast light is moving towards you or away from you is always "lightspeed". It doesn’t matter what else we add to the question, the answer is always 'lightspeed".\n\nSo if the light leaves the bulbs at lightspeed and gets reflected back at lightspeed does that mean you could see?\n\nProbably not. \n\nAlthough light doesn't change speed relative to the observer it does change wavelength. The faster you travel towards a light source the bluer it will look. \n\nAny object that your headlights strike will reflect the light back to you at lightspeed, that's OK. But because you are travelling towards the object at lightspeed the light will be shifted way, way towards the blue end of the spectrum. It would all be ultraviolet an X-rays. The human eye simply can't see those wavelengths. So plenty of light would be reflected back, but it wouldn't be visible to you. As a result it would all look dark.\n\n\n>>>>> if the interior light inside your car was on at\n>>>>> the time would you see that?\n\nYes. Because both you and it are travelling at the same speed it woulnd't be red shifted at all. Similarly because you and the interior of the car are travelling at the same speed you would be able to see the light reflected off that just fine as well.\n\nEverything in the universe that is travelling as fast as you will look normal.Everything outside will appear black.
655580
no, it is infared light, which is lower energy than regular light. plus it is a very weak, un focused siganl that only transmits for an instant.
823621
assuming the object is not self powered or already in motion from somebody's pushing or wind power - then it is an optical illussion