Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 16:59:59 -0600 (CST) From: Mark Jacobson To: 810-151-04@uni.edu Subject: [810-151-04] Speed of Light is 299,792,459 meters/second math-cs:~/web/scheme> bc <----- bc calculator on cowboy or any unix or linux 299792459 / 1609.3742 <----- (meter per second / meters per mile) 186278 <----- miles per second 186,278 miles per second Scheme students, ------- See problem 2.10 page 74 of the textbook. v = velocity of the particle c = speed of light m = mass of the particle when it is at rest rest Your Scheme function will calculate the mass of the particle when it is moving at various speeds. You need to have this value for one of the new homework problems from the textbook in order to write your Scheme procedure that calculates the mass of the moving object. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/guidry/violence/lightspeed.html From the above URL: 299,792,458 meters per second The Speed of Light is Constant ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Furthermore, contrary to normal intuition, the Theory of Relativity tells us that light always travels at the same speed relative to some observer, no matter what the relative motion of the observer. Thus, light emitted from a moving airplane does not travel with the speed of light plus the speed of the airplane, it travels with the "speed of light", no matter what the speed of the airplane! In a vacuum, light always travels at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per second, no matter how its speed is measured. Quiz #1 on Wednesday. Scheme homework (3 problems from book) due on Wednesday. See class web site at http://www.cns.uni.edu/~jacobson/scheme/ Have a good weekend. Mark