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It has to do with the nature of space and time or more accurately, the nature of spacetime. It turns out that both space and time are relative and how much space and time you experience depends on your frame of reference.

For example, imagine you were to travel in a spaceship at 99% the speed of light to a distant star that was a 100 trillion kilometers away .

Those left at home would see the distance you traveled to be 100 trillion kilometers and would consider the time it took you to be about 10 years.

However, you in the spaceship would only measure the distance to the star to be 14 trillion kilometers instead of 100 trillion kilometers and you would think it only took you 1.4 years to travel there instead of 10 years.

If you traveled even faster at 99.99% the speed of light you would measure the distance to be 1.4 trillion kilometers instead of 14 and you would think it only took you 0.14 years instead of 1.4.

If you traveled even faster at 99.9999% the speed of light you would measure the distance to be 0.14 trillion kilometers instead of 1.4 and you would think it only took you 0.014 years instead of 0.14, and so on.

The closer to the speed of light you travel the shorter the distance becomes for you and the less time it takes you.

As you can see "space and time becomes less and less" for you in the spaceship relative to us here on the earth.

What it comes down to is that different people see space and time differently, depending on the "frame of reference" from which they are looking at things.

Note however that it would be impossible for you to travel at exactly the speed of light because it would theoretically take you an infinite amount of energy to get up to that speed. Light can do it because it has no "rest mass".

For light when it travels from one point to another at the speed of light, from its point of view, it experiences no passage of time and there is no distance between the two points.

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15y ago
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5mo ago

At the speed of light, time does not stop, but instead appears to slow down as observed by an outside observer. This is a consequence of Einstein's theory of relativity, where time dilation occurs as objects approach the speed of light.

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14y ago

More accurately, according to the theory of relativity, time dilation approaches infinity as an observer's velocity approaches the speed of light. The mathematics breaks down atthe speed of light ('c') - for at the exact speed of light, mass and time dilation become infinite. That is why we say nothing with a rest mass can reach the speed of light.

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Q: At the speed of light time stops. Really?
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If time stops at the speed of light how do photons move?

Time for the object or person in question stops. This does not affect the objects around which aren't travelling at that speed or the region of spacetime which is around them. A simple and possible explanation is that time is stopped for the photon, but this stays unnoticed because we are not moving at that speed and so we cannot say what is happening to the photon.


How fast are you moving on earth standing still?

At what are called relativistic speeds (some 90% the speed of light and more), time slows down appreciably. At the speed of light, time stops. But as anything with any mass is accelerated near the speed of light, it gains mass (because the energy being put into it to move it is converted into that mass). Just so you know what 'Big Al' Einstein said.


Traveling at speed of light how much time will pass in 70 years on earth?

None. At the speed of light, time stops completely. It is impossible for anything with an invariant mass to move at the speed of light; only particles with no "rest mass" (such as photons) can do so.


Is time faster than he speed of light?

No, time is not faster than the speed of light. In fact, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light as per the theory of relativity. Time is a dimension linked to space, and its flow is constant regardless of the speed of light.


What is the speed it takes your light bulb to transmit at the speed of light?

By definition, light travels at the speed of light. About 300,000 kps

Related questions

Why you cannot travel faster than light?

Because when moving at the speed of light, time stops for you and you can no longer measure speed (distance covered in a certain time).


Is there a place on earth were your clock stops or goes backwards?

Not really. The closest we can come to that is in big (really big) accelerators. In them, we accelerate subatomic particles to 99.999999% (or so) the speed of light. If those particles were wearing watches and we could see the watches, time would be almost stopped as we see them. Time will only slow down in an accelerated frame (compared to another frame). And it takes a really, really, really accelerated frame to cause time dilation to become obvious. Only at the speed of light will time actually stop. And we can't accelerate anything to that speed.


If time stops at the speed of light how do photons move?

Time for the object or person in question stops. This does not affect the objects around which aren't travelling at that speed or the region of spacetime which is around them. A simple and possible explanation is that time is stopped for the photon, but this stays unnoticed because we are not moving at that speed and so we cannot say what is happening to the photon.


Why can't you achieve light speed?

You need to know the Einsteins equation of relativity. t'=t(1-v2/c2)0.5 Basically this says the time (t') is relative to velocity (v). And C is the speed of light If v=c you get: t'=t(1-1)0.5=tx0 Therefore time stops for you when you reach the speed of light.


How fast do you need to go to stop time?

Stopping time is not possible regardless of your speed. Time is a constant force that moves steadily forward and cannot be altered or manipulated by speed or any other physical factor.


When does time freeze?

When an object is travelling at the speed of light in a vacuum, relativity theory says that time stops for that object. Relativity theory also says that it is not possible for any object with a non-zero mass to accelerate to that speed. So, except in the trivial case of massless particles (which, in a vacuum, already travel at the speed of light), time does not ever freeze.


Wouldn't an object moving at the speed of light relative to other things in space technically be at rest relative to itself and always allowed to accelerate?

It would be if it wasn't for the fact that time relative the object moving at high speed slows down as you approached the speed of light, and completely stops when you reach it. This is what prevents things from going faster than the speed of light.


How can light and sound travel at a same time in televisions?

They don't really travel at the same speed, but, on television, the distance they travel is so short, that the difference between the speed of sound and the speed of light is almost non-existant.


What is the trem for the relationship between the speed of light and the measurements of time and space?

Time and space are related by the speed of light space r=ct where t is time and c is the speed of light.


How fast are you moving on earth standing still?

At what are called relativistic speeds (some 90% the speed of light and more), time slows down appreciably. At the speed of light, time stops. But as anything with any mass is accelerated near the speed of light, it gains mass (because the energy being put into it to move it is converted into that mass). Just so you know what 'Big Al' Einstein said.


How do you measure speed of a paper plane?

You should time it until it stops and check out how long it will cross in that specific amount of time. Speed = Time --------------- Distance


Light speed is a time or speed?

Perhaps coincidentally, the phrase "light speed" refers to a speed.It is a speed.