If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light

[93732]

what happens when you turn on the headlights?

 

[Nebor]

Is it a VW? Because then your car breaks down.

 

[PCTweaker5]

Lol, I think they would just light up but a beam wouldnt be cast. Or it might be the double effect, like if you were to shoot a machine gun at lightspeed but probably not.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: PCTweaker5
Lol, I think they would just light up but a beam wouldnt be cast. Or it might be the double effect, like if you were to shoot a machine gun at lightspeed but probably not.

They would work normally. Jeez, they had this one back when I was in physics class...

Oh, and the real nerds are about to tear your face off for suggesting something go the speed of light.

 

[dfi]

The lights work as usual. Is this a trick question?

dfi

 

[Ready]

the light travels out at 2X the speed of light!
The universe stops spinning
All is sucked into a black hole
And Buy.com will finally deliver on those $169 19" monitors people ordered 5-6 years ago!

 

[Ikonomi]

Depends, are the headlights xenon, or just blue-tinted halogens? How many Type R emblems are on the vehicle? Must be a lot to get it to go that fast.

 

[MAME]

since you can't go the speed of light, the question is void and I win money

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Ready
the light travels out at 2X the speed of light!
The universe stops spinning
All is sucked into a black hole
And Buy.com will finally deliver on those $169 19" monitors people ordered 5-6 years ago!

bullcrap, even if the world was brought to a sudden halt, those monitors still dont and never did exist

 

[Colt45]

you know how when you go 100mph with the low beams on, and you outrun the lights?

yeah.. like that but to the extreme.

 

[PCTweaker5]

Are you talking about a high speed chase?

 

[element]

Originally posted by: Ready
the light travels out at 2X the speed of light!
The universe stops spinning
All is sucked into a black hole
And Buy.com will finally deliver on those $169 19" monitors people ordered 5-6 years ago!

you forgot duke nukem fornever will come out, as will the bitboys oy video card, and cold fusion, oh and doom3 and hl2 too

 

[PCTweaker5]

DNF looks like crap!

 

[Kilgor]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: Ready
the light travels out at 2X the speed of light!
The universe stops spinning
All is sucked into a black hole
And Buy.com will finally deliver on those $169 19" monitors people ordered 5-6 years ago!

bullcrap, even if the world was brought to a sudden halt, those monitors still dont and never did exist

Yes they did I'm sure there are still some WMCs here. Someone started a class action lawsuit and actually won. I got sent a check because I was one of the people who tried to get in on the deal. I never did cash it though because I knew it was a mistake and it wouldn't be right taking the money. A few people even got the monitors for that price. Ahhh thoses were the days.

 

[PCTweaker5]

You should have at least cashed it for charity lol.

 

[Rhombuss]

I guess you've never heard of the Theory of Relativity

 

[ThePresence]

Same thing that happens if you go the speed of sound and toot the horn.

 

[oniq]

Who were you before the Anandtech Moderator probed you?

 

[nakedfrog]

What if you start screaming like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Do you think that your head would like... blow up?

 

[Description]

What if you're in a light going the speed of vehicle?

 

[Kelvrick]

Light always travels at the speed of light from your perspective. Lets just say for example (i konw this isn't the speed of light) that it is 1000mph.

Now, you're in a car going 1000mph, the light will be moving away from you at 1000mph.

 

[Rudee]

Another riddle that's as old as the hills. The answer: The headlights turn on.

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Light always travels at the speed of light from your perspective. Lets just say for example (i konw this isn't the speed of light) that it is 1000mph.

Now, you're in a car going 1000mph, the light will be moving away from you at 1000mph.

actually, no. No object with mass can hit the speed of light (1000mph in your example) -- so the quetione is really unanswerable.

Now, if you are going .9999 * c (or, say, 999.9999 mph in your example), you are correct, the headlights will turn on like normal and the beam will travel at the speed of light in your reference frame... of course, everything you see will be shifted like hell due to the doppler effect, but that is another matter.

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Hector13

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Light always travels at the speed of light from your perspective. Lets just say for example (i konw this isn't the speed of light) that it is 1000mph.

Now, you're in a car going 1000mph, the light will be moving away from you at 1000mph.

actually, no. No object with mass can hit the speed of light (1000mph in your example) -- so the quetione is really unanswerable.

Now, if you are going .9999 * c (or, say, 999.9999 mph in your example), you are correct, the headlights will turn on like normal and the beam will travel at the speed of light in your reference frame... of course, everything you see will be shifted like hell due to the doppler effect, but that is another matter.

It's a theoretical riddle, you are supposed to overlook such things.

 

[Teliasen]

your tires will melt