Eli5: Why does light travel so fast?

815 views

Eli5: Why does light travel so fast?

In: 130

38 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

You know the equation Force = mass x acceleration? That can be rearranged into Force / mass = acceleration.

Light has zero mass, so to find it’s acceleration we would have to calculate the forces acting on it divided by zero.
(Force / 0 = acceleration)

Theoretically, anything divided by zero is infinity. That means any force applied to light would immediately give it infinite acceleration, and therefore infinite speed.
(Any number / 0 = infinity)

But the universe puts it’s own speed limit on every object in existence for some reason (including light particles) so it caps at 300,000 km/s.

You are viewing 1 out of 38 answers, click here to view all answers.