:/
In: 0
Imagine you and I are sitting in a classroom on opposite ends of the room and I want to send a note to you. In order to get the note to you I have to hand it to the person sitting next to me, who hands it to the person sitting next to them, and so on and so forth until eventually the note reaches your desk. The more people in the room and the closer we sit together the faster the note will reach your desk, because there is less travel from person to person then if there were less people in the room spaced further apart.
In a sense this is how sound works. Molecules bumping into other molecules transmitting the energy (note) with them. The closer the molecules – like water or rock as opposed to air – the faster the wave of energy can travel. This is also why sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum like space – there is nothing else around to bump into.
Light is more like if I were to suddenly become infinitely lighter than a feather and sprint straight towards you. I don’t need anyone else around me to help pass the note and, in fact, the less people in the room the better because it’s less stuff in the way for me to get to you. Also, because I’m light and have no mass I don’t even need to ramp up my speed to get to a full sprint. Like I’d already be sprinting at full speed, as fast as the universe will let something sprint, the moment the note is created.
Latest Answers