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
When you move the stick, you’re moving the molecules in the stick in contact with your hand. Those molecules then move the molecules they’re in contact with, and so and so on, until the other end of the stick moves too.
This is the same process that sound waves passing through the object go through, and happens at roughly the same speed. So if you had a light year long stick a move it, how long it would take for the other end to move would depend on what the speed of sound is for the material your stick is made of – but it would definitely take a very, very long time to propagate all the way to the other end.
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