Re: More on Speed of Light
Russell Garber ( (no email) )
Tue, 05 Oct 1999 10:37:30 -0400
Hi Ken et al!
I think my remaining confusion is due to the duality of light. The speed
of light as particles could possibly be explained by my aforementioned
thoughts, but I guess the speed of light as a wave could not. Light as
waves could explain how the speed could increase when travelling through a
different medium (getting back to the statement about light speed slowing
down while travelling through certain mediums and then again travelling at
speed C when exiting), but then again, isn't it stated that light does not
require a medium to propagate through (thus why light can travel through a
vacuum)? I could be wrong but it seems to me that a wave by definition
needs a medium to propagate through. In this case, maybe the reality is,
that a vacuum is not what it is normally perceived to be (an absence of all
matter), but instead it contains this phenomena, and it is this phenomena
that the light waves propagates through at it's maximum speed. Maybe,
this would work with both properties of light on a different level. I will
have to do some research and more thinking on that. It still is the best
way I can think to explain how light can travel at a constant speed in all
frames of reference. Anyway, I guess the biggest confusion is with
definitions used by mainstream science that don't exactly explain things
correctly and usually are not updated as new information comes in. Not to
mention the simplistic definitions that are given to you as a child and
then (maybe) changed as you get older when it is thought you are able to
comprehend it. In any case, thanks again for your information.
-Russ
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