quote:
Originally posted by Lor:

Yeah, you do that, email him then let me know okay. thanks :)
Ah, dear Dr.Christensen... what a nerd. Gotta love him. And his kids! God they're cute!

quote:
Hi Ashley:

The speed of light is INDEPENDENT of the reference frame. This is a really strange concept !! It means that the speed of light does NOT depend on the speed of the flashlight that produces it. It means that ALL observers, no matter how quickly or in what direction they are travelling, will measure the speed of light to be the same constant value !!

(Recall that we discussed the Doppler effect which says that the wavelength of the light changes depending on what the observer and source are doing - but the SPEED is constant.)

*** Christensen


On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 23:29:12 -0600
"Ashley Haag" <skankbunnyblue@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi, Dr.Christensen.  Could I bother you with a small question?  It's been on my mind for a while, and I don't really get the special relativity theory.
 
The speed of light is relative to the initial starting velocity, right?  So, if a lightsource was traveling at C velocity due north and shined the light due south, what would a stationary observer to the south see, looking north?
 
And wouldn't that observer then be traveling at the speed of light?
 
I appreciate it if you can answer.  Thanks for your time.
 
                                  -Ashley HaagProtect your PC - Click here for McAfee.com VirusScan Online


*** Christensen

Associate Professor
Department of Physics and Energy Science
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
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