Obviously theoretical but if I took a light year long stick and say pushed a button at the other end would that button be pushed at the same time for me as say someone standing at the button? How does the frame of reference work when physically moving something? And could that “work” as a method of instant communication?
In: Planetary Science
Other commenters have raised the central issue that the signal travels through the rod at the speed of sound. If you want to do a practical experiment to demonstrate a similar principle, try the following. Find a slinky and dangle it from a window or the top of a flight of stairs. You want to be high enough that the slinky can fully stretch out and still have some clearance above the floor or the ground. What do you think will happen when you let go of the upper end?
>!the bottom end will stay in place until the upper end falls to meet it, and then the whole thing will fall together!<
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