If a small pea sized object hit the earth moving at the speed of light what would happen?

[Number_35]

Don't photons (in a perfect vacuum), by definition, travel at the speed of light (3 × 10^8 m/s)? Radio waves also, right?

That's very fast, but given the vast distances of space, it still takes time for light to get from one point to another. The Earth is about 150 × 10^6 km (or 1.5 × 10^11 m) from the Sun.

(1.5 × 10^11 m)/(3 × 10^8 m/s) = 0.5 × 10^3 s = 500 s = approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

So we're 8-1/3 light-minutes from the Sun, but about 4-1/2 light years from the closest star (i.e. next closest sun). It's all a bit mind-boggling!

Light in glass (e.g. fibre optic strands) travels at just over 2/3 the speed of light.

 

[gmh101358]

Yip and if I don't get to see one before I die I'm going to be extremely disappointed.

I hear ya, ain't nothing like a good bowel movement

Yeah .....me too....I was lucky enough to see the Phoenix lights.....

 

[kschachn]

Don't photons (in a perfect vacuum), by definition, travel at the speed of light (3 × 10^8 m/s)? Radio waves also, right?

That's very fast, but given the vast distances of space, it still takes time for light to get from one point to another. The Earth is about 150 × 10^6 km (or 1.5 × 10^11 m) from the Sun.

(1.5 × 10^11 m)/(3 × 10^8 m/s) = 0.5 × 10^3 s = 500 s = approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

So we're 8-1/3 light-minutes from the Sun, but about 4-1/2 light years from the closest star (i.e. next closest sun). It's all a bit mind-boggling!

Light in glass (e.g. fibre optic strands) travels at just over 2/3 the speed of light.

Photons always travel at the speed of light regardless of the media. But when the media is not a vacuum it is possible for massive particles to travel faster.

 

[javacontour]

Something actually moving at 100% the speed of light would carry an infinite amount of energy, so the whole universe would be obliterated.

As the speed of light is approached, additional accelerating force will increase the velocity of the object only slightly (and less and less each time), but it will have more kinetic energy.

Does it really have infinite energy or is it simply our understanding and math breaks down at that point?
To me, an answer of infinity is a fancy "we don't know."

 

[kschachn]

Does it really have infinite energy or is it simply our understanding and math breaks down at that point?
To me, an answer of infinity is a fancy "we don't know."

No it is not infinite because it won't happen. It would take infinite energy to accelerate even one electron to the speed of light and that isn't going to happen.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Here's your answer:

 

[Lubener]

The price of gas would stop rising....

 

[javacontour]

No it is not infinite because it won't happen. It would take infinite energy to accelerate even one electron to the speed of light and that isn't going to happen.

Not saying anything can actually get to infinite.

It's more about when the MATH says the answer is infinite, that means we have a gap in our understanding or our math.

Sorry I wasn't more clear.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Some of my super smart physics/math major friends said ....well one said the earth would be sucked into a black hole another said in might pass through the earth and not much would happen....and i thought the best anwser was no one knows.We were watching a show on the comets hitting the earth it would be wiped out etc. is why it was brought up last week-end.
We had some saying there is no objects moving through space at the speed of light.....but like my college days buddy says space is huge the speed of light is very slow for space travel......there could be thousands of objects moving at the speed of light....just because some telescope has not picked it up does not its not out there.... being so small it would not see it/pick it up anyway.

Pea soup?
I sure wouldn't want to be around if it hit the earth near me.

 

[Bud]

Pea hitting at that speed would turn it into a butter bean.

 

[wpod]

It would burn up when it hits the atmosphere.

 

[Bill_W]

Photons always travel at the speed of light regardless of the media. But when the media is not a vacuum it is possible for massive particles to travel faster.

View attachment 102493

You would think the speed of light is constant but gravity can bend it. Time itself is affected by gravity.

Refraction - Definition, Causes, Laws, Refractive Index, Examples, Applications, Video, Solved Problems, and FAQs

Refraction is the change in direction of the wave as it passes from one medium to another. Understand the law governing the refraction of light, its applications and more.

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Speed of Light | What is Speed of Light? | Olympus LS

The speed of light, which is almost 300,000 km per second, can be manipulated by changing media or with quantum interference. Learn more with Olympus.

www.olympus-lifescience.com

 

[Jetronic]

Some of my super smart physics/math major friends said ....well one said the earth would be sucked into a black hole another said in might pass through the earth and not much would happen....and i thought the best anwser was no one knows.We were watching a show on the comets hitting the earth it would be wiped out etc. is why it was brought up last week-end.
We had some saying there is no objects moving through space at the speed of light.....but like my college days buddy says space is huge the speed of light is very slow for space travel......there could be thousands of objects moving at the speed of light....just because some telescope has not picked it up does not its not out there.... being so small it would not see it/pick it up anyway.

There won't be objects travelling at the speed of light, certainly not pea sized. But if there were, it wouldn't be good

kinetic energy = 1/2 mass x velocity squared, so find out the weight of a pea, and the weight and speed of meteors to do a comparison of the effects.

 

[Jetronic]

It would burn up when it hits the atmosphere.

would there be time at the speed of light?

 

[Jetronic]

Is the earth round or flat in this hypothetical pea experiment?

the pea will be flat in the end...

 

[mk378]

It would burn up when it hits the atmosphere.

If that did happen, it would still release enough heat and pressure to destroy the Earth.

 

[john_pifer]

would there be time at the speed of light?

It’s relative.

One of my favorite explanations of relativity is the good ole twin paradox.

A person leaves Earth on a ship that can travel at a high percentage of the speed of light. Travels at that speed for a while, say, a month, then turns around and comes back.

When he gets back, he finds that time has passed more quickly for everyone on Earth.

The difference depends on his speed, and how long he maintains that speed.

The difference could be years, centuries, or eons, depending on the percentage of the speed of light, and how long he stays at that speed.

Used to lie on the floor in the library as a kid, reading books that pondered these sorts of things. Always been fascinated by it.

The time differential even exists at much lower speeds, such as an airliner, or a satellite. The clocks on satellites are programmed to account for this relative time differential.

 

[Bill_W]

It’s relative.

One of my favorite explanations of relativity is the good ole twin paradox.

A person leaves Earth on a ship that can travel at a high percentage of the speed of light. Travels at that speed for a while, say, a month, then turns around and comes back.

When he gets back, he finds that time has passed more quickly for everyone on Earth.

The difference depends on his speed, and how long he maintains that speed.

The difference could be years, centuries, or eons, depending on the percentage of the speed of light, and how long he stays at that speed.

Used to lie on the floor in the library as a kid, reading books that pondered these sorts of things. Always been fascinated by it.

The time differential even exists at much lower speeds, such as an airliner, or a satellite. The clocks on satellites are programmed to account for this relative time differential.

Atomic clock test… Gravity time dilution.

 

[kschachn]

Atomic clock test… Gravity time dilution.

Dilation not dilution

 

[kschachn]

It’s relative.

One of my favorite explanations of relativity is the good ole twin paradox.

A person leaves Earth on a ship that can travel at a high percentage of the speed of light. Travels at that speed for a while, say, a month, then turns around and comes back.

When he gets back, he finds that time has passed more quickly for everyone on Earth.

The difference depends on his speed, and how long he maintains that speed.

The difference could be years, centuries, or eons, depending on the percentage of the speed of light, and how long he stays at that speed.

Used to lie on the floor in the library as a kid, reading books that pondered these sorts of things. Always been fascinated by it.

The time differential even exists at much lower speeds, such as an airliner, or a satellite. The clocks on satellites are programmed to account for this relative time differential.

And for the object at the speed of light time would have no meaning. The Lorenz equation has the denominator going to zero which makes the term not zero but undefined. For a photon time has no meaning, the instant it is emitted it is absorbed regardless of the distance traveled. But for the photon distance has no meaning either, only for an observer not traveling at the speed of light. Funny stuff for those objects at that speed.