Faster Than Light Travel: Exploring Kinetic Energy

[ddarlage]

They say that faster than light travel is impossible. However, if you made a rod 1 light year long and someone was standing at the other end when you bumped it. They would feel it immediately. The kinetic energy generated by the poke reaches the person before the light. Kinetic energy is an attribute of an object in motion. Therefore the stick is traveling faster than light.

 

[berkeman]

They say that faster than light travel is impossible. However, if you made a rod 1 light year long and someone was standing at the other end when you bumped it. They would feel it immediately. The kinetic energy generated by the poke reaches the person before the light. Kinetic energy is an attribute of an object in motion. Therefore the stick is traveling faster than light.

Why would they feel it immediately? What is the speed of sound in a rod? If you smack one end of a rod with a hammer, the sound and movement) of the smack propagates at the speed of sound in the rod...

 

[berkeman]

You can also see this recent thread for further clarification:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=454265

Welcome to the PF, BTW.

 

[Phyisab****]

Information, matter, and energy cannot travel faster than light. Rather than ask if you have proven special relativity wrong, you should ask what is wrong with your reasoning such that it appears you can violate special relativity. I promise you, it will not be violated in your example.

 

[pmacias]

While it may seem like the person at the other end of the 1 light year long rod is feeling the poke faster than the speed of light, this is not actually the case. The speed of light is a fundamental constant in the universe and nothing can travel faster than it. The sensation of feeling the poke at the other end of the rod is due to the transfer of kinetic energy through the rod, not the actual physical movement of the rod itself.

In fact, even if we were to create a hypothetical scenario where the rod was able to physically move faster than the speed of light, it would violate the laws of physics as we know them. The concept of faster than light travel is currently not possible according to our current understanding of the universe.

Furthermore, the concept of kinetic energy is based on the object's mass and velocity, not its speed relative to the speed of light. So, while the kinetic energy may be transferred at a fast rate through the rod, it does not mean that the rod itself is traveling faster than light.

In conclusion, the idea of faster than light travel is still a topic of scientific research and exploration, but it is currently not possible according to our current understanding of physics. The scenario described in the content is not a valid example of faster than light travel and does not change the fundamental laws of the universe.