Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site prometheus.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!prometheus!pmk From: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: Re: Light Message-ID: <151@prometheus.UUCP> Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 01:20:57 EDT Article-I.D.: promethe.151 Posted: Mon Jul 8 01:20:57 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jul-85 00:49:03 EDT References: <344@sri-arpa.ARPA> <1157@mnetor.UUCP> Organization: Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD Lines: 39 > In article <344@sri-arpa.ARPA> infinity%udel-cc-vax2.delaware@udel-louie.ARPA writes: > > > >The speed of light is constant? oh, I was under the impression that > >it changed velocity in substances such as glass, etc. > > Eric > > The speed of light in a vacuum is constant. In a transparent > material medium light is absorbed by atoms in its path. .. .. ... > Maxwell's equations still hold in the empty space between > the molocules, and the speed of light is invariant. > Cheers, Fred Williams The speed of light is a constant in vacuum at given gravitational field density. In general :-) it speeds up infinitely in a void where no matter exists (gets lost). Or another way of looking at it is that the photon wave length goes to infinity as the background gravity field goes to zero. Or another way of thinking about it is the the framing rate (quantized time) goes to infinity. For people living at sea level it (the speed of light) even varies a little because of the tide and the moon. So remember the laws of physics aren't LAW they are consensus guesses OR consensus convention, because otherwise things get complicated. In fact it kind of looks like gravity acts like it has some of the character- istics fantasized for an ether. The ether was kind of a neat idea because it made things like sound waves and light waves a lot more analogous. That is aEther would be a sort of gas like medium for the transmission of light. Gravity is grainy. But grains of what? Well that's another story for yet another episode in this saga of Reality vs Physics. Who will win?? Paul +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+ | pmk@prometheus: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..!{umcp-cs,seismo}!prometh!pmk | decade | +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+