Question

if an object is thrown at the speed of light then what would happen? give the answer by thinking.

Answer 1

Hello Friend,

Some weird things would happen.
Some implications of Special Theory Of Relativity are as follows:

→ First, an introduction about Lorentz, Factor.

Lorentz Factor tells us how much the time, length and mass change with speed of an object.
It is denoted as γ (Greek letter gamma)

And, γ = 1 / [1 - (v²/c²) ]

where:
• v = speed of object
• c = 299792458 m/s = speed of light in vacuum

I have attached an image of the equation for better understanding.
It is in the image for the equation of Length Contraction.

Now, let's get back to our question:

# About the Mass of the object

→ Einstein's mass-energy equivalence equation is E = mc², which tells us that mass and energy are interrelated.

♦ The 'mass' we usually talk about is actually the rest mass of the given object. Rest mass is simply the mass of an object at rest in a given frame of reference.

♦ As the speed of an object increases, it's mass increases. This is shown by the equation in the picture:

• m = m0 / [1 - (v²/c²) ]
Or, simply m(v) = m γ

where
•m0 is called the rest mass.
•m is the relativistic mass.
•γ = Lorentz Factor

It is clear from the equation that as the velocity v of an object approaches the speed of light, then it's mass increases exponentially.

So, as you see, as v→c (v tends to c), then m→∞ (m tends to infinity)

As mass increases on increasing velocity, more and more energy is needed to accelerate it. So more energy is required to increase its speed.

✓ By the time the object approaches the speed of light, its mass becomes infinite. And you would require infinite energy to increase its speed further.

♦ Light is an electromagnetic wave. (It's actually both wave and particle)

As a wave, it doesn't have any mass. And any massless thing travels at 299792458 m/s

» So, if an object were indeed travelling at the speed of light, it would either have infinite mass, or it should have been a massless thing like light.

# About the Length of the object

If any object is moving along its length, it's length must decrease. This phenomenon is called Length Contraction.

As speed of object increases, it's length along the direction of motion decreases. (Image attached)

In mathematical form, it is given as:

L' = L/γ
where γ is Lorentz Factor
(Image is attached)

♦ So, we come to know that as an object approaches the speed of light, then it's length decreases exponentially.

As v→c, L→0

» So, if an object is travelling at the speed of light, then it's length would be zero along its direction of motion.

The object would rather look like a long plate then.

# About Flow of Time

→ The great physicist James Clerk Maxwell gave the theory of Electromagnetism.

He showed that electromagnetic waves, including light, travel at a fixed speed in the vacuum.

I suggest you read the following before you proceed: ↓↓

https://brainly.in/question/1235130

→ Now, Einstein gave the time dilation equation as follows:

t' = t γ

where
• t' is the time for the observer
• t is proper time
• γ is Lorentz Factor

Proper time is the time measured when the object was at rest.

This shows that as the speed of an object increases, the value of t' increases.

t' denotes the length of a second compared to proper time t

For example, if an object was travelling at 90% the speed of light, then 10 minutes for it would be around 20 minutes for people at rest.

This is the principle of time dilation.

♦ We observe that when v→c , t'→∞
This means that if the object approaches the speed of light, then time flows more and more slowly for it compared to other objects at rest.

→ This has an interesting effect.
For example, consider t' = 2 t
It means that 1 second on Earth is 2 seconds for the object travelling at high speed. This basically means that the object is travelling into the future!!

» Thus, if an object was indeed travelling at the speed of light, then time would be infinitely slow for it. In other words, time would literally stop for that object! One second for that object would be infinity seconds on Earth.

#Some Other Things

(?) How would we see the object?
→ We see an object when light reflects from that object and enters our eye.

But, if an object was travelling at the speed of light, then the situation would be different. The light would be reflected from it, no doubt. But the object would be traveling as fast as the reflected light itself.

This means that as soon as you saw the object (the light from the object entered your eye), as soon as you saw the object, the object would be on front of you (and it would probably hit you on your face ;-) )

» So, you wouldn't see the object coming until it hit you.

(?) What would a person see if s/he was travelling at the speed of light ?

→ This is somewhat similar to the last question. But now, some spooky things happen. The person would probably see a kind of tunnel shaped window.

Moreover, Doppler Effect would be there in extreme proportions.

The stars in front of you would appear heavily blue-shifted, and the stars behind you would appear heavily red-shifted. (Image attached)

Answer 2

To reach the speed of light an object should have that much energy. Which is not possible