At half the speed of light, both a driver and a roadside observer measure light traveling at speed c, or 3 x 10^8 m/s, illustrating a core principle of special relativity. This principle states that light's speed remains constant regardless of the motion of its source. Einstein's theory asserts that time is relative; as an object approaches light speed, time slows for that object, a concept known as time dilation. A contrasting example involves speed measurements in everyday scenarios, where an object's speed can vary based on the observer's frame of reference.
Both the driver and the person on the road would measure the light as traveling at the same speed, c, regardless of the car’s speed.
Albert Einstein predicted in 1905 that if the speed of light is a universal constant, then time is relative, leading to phenomena like time dilation.
The faster you move through space, the slower you move through time, meaning a clock on a hyper-speed spaceship ticks slower.
In everyday situations, speed works differently; for instance, a bystander wouldn’t measure a tennis ball thrown in a moving car as moving at 20 m/s.
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