Endercreeper01 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 You know how if you have an object and you put a force on it, its not the whole object that moves at the same time, but instead, the force pushes the object and goes through it at the speed of sound? Well, what is this like when you only push a particle, such as an electron? Does it travel through the electron at the speed of light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 A particle is a point-like object, so your question is ill posed. Particles never actually make contact like that, they interact via fields. This given them a effective size. Anyway, and small changes in the fields will propagate with a speed limited by the speed of light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It is only 'contact' forces which propagate through an object at the speed of sound ( although sometimes supersonically ), such as when you hit a baseball with a bat. Forces due to a field, such as gravity, EM, etc., are 'instantly on both sides of the object, because the field is 'already there'. Changes in the field propagate at c, as AJB has stated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now