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No. Faster-than-light travel is physically impossible for several reasons, the main reason being that the energy required to accelerate to the speed of light approaches infinity as you approach the speed of light (a side effect of relativity).

There is only a finite amount of energy within the universe, and far less of it is actually usable, so only a finite acceleration and therefore a finite maximum speed is possible, and it is far from the speed of light.

However, this does not exclude the possibilities of warping space around an object to create the result of FTL travel, but without the effects. Several hypothetical models have been formed for this, but so far none are within the technological or theoretical reach of humankind.

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13y ago
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12y ago

Actually it is possible that something would able to travel faster than speed of light. According to the Einstein's Special Relativity Theory, speed of light is just a reference frame. It's seem like when an object move more faster and faster, the mass of that object will increase. And this will make that object travel more slower when mass is increasing. Since mass increased and the energy needed for that object to move is limited, therefore that object wouldn't travel faster than light. On the other hands, a particle which is very light (almost mass less), that will be the same thing happened on it. If the mass of that particle can convert into energy during that particle is moving, then that particle wouldn't have any problem to travel faster than light. Theoretically, when mass is decreased, the energy provided will increase due to mass has already transformed into energy form. It's seem like only very a few particles able to convert its mass into energy. Therefore, certain particles still can travel faster than light.

The speed of light is NOT just a reference frame -- it is independent of any reference frame. The first statement is completely and ludicrously false.

The formula for how the mass 'm' of an object (say, a particle) with rest mass m(0) increases as viewed by a frame in which the object is moving at velocity 'v' (ie, the frame views the object's mass as m(f)) is given by

m(f) = m(0)/sqrt(1 - v^2/c^2)

where 'c' is the speed of light

Note how, as v gets closer to c, m(f) will get larger and larger. As long as the particle has SOME mass, its increase in mass as viewed by the frame will overcome any loss of mass by any form. No matter how much mass is changed into energy, relativity will win out, and the particle will NOT go beyond the speed of light. Period, end of story. Therefore, NO particle can travel faster than light unless they began their existence at that speed.

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13y ago

Yes, a photon may travel at the speed of light.

If it had mass, at the speed of light, its mass would be infinite.

This is impossible, so photons travel at the speed of light and have no mass.

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15y ago

The tachyon moves faster than the speed of light, but so far these particles are only hypothetical.

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9y ago

No particle has ever been observed going faster than light.

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9y ago

No.

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Q: Can a particle without mass travel at the speed of light?
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What travels at light speed besides engines?

Engines cannot travel at light speed. The only thing that can travel at this speed is the Photon, the particle of light.


Which are the non relativistic particles?

A non-relativistic particle is any particle not traveling at a speed close to the speed of light. This is not a property of particular type of particle; any particle may in general travel at any speed (below the speed of light). An exception are particles which are massless such as photons and gluons, these MUST travel at the speed of light.


Can a lepton travel faster than the speed of light?

Leptons have mass.According to special relativity, no particle with mass can travel at or faster than the speed of light. It would take infinite energy to do so.


How does speed light travel?

Light travels at 299,792,458 m/s as both a wave and a particle. Light demonstrates aspects of both. It does not require any sort of medium to travel.


Which particle travels the fastest?

There are some particles that travel at the speed of light - mainly, the photon (the particle that makes up light), and the (hypothetical) graviton. No particles are known to travel faster than that, and it doesn't seem likely that this is at all possible.


How can a small particle say a neutrino travel ALMOST at the speed of light when it would take an infinite amount of energy to travel at the speed of light?

Firstly, it takes an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object with 'mass' to the speed of light. A massless particle removes that energy problem. Secondly, approaching the speed of light is not actually much of an issue for even a particle with mass. The Large Hadron Collider accelerates particles to just 3m/s below the speed of light, 'almost the speed of light' by any definition. While it takes an immense amount of energy, it can still be done.


If a particle travels in space turns into energy or not?

Not. Because. it can only possible when it travel with speed of light, but it is still impossible.


What is the speed of light can anything else travel closer to the speed of light?

What is the speed of light? About 300,000,000 meters per second - enough to travel all around the Earth 7.5 times in one second. Can anything travel nearly as fast? - Yes, in particle accelerators particles are regularly accelerated to over 99% of the speed of light. According to current scientific understanding: (a) it is not possible to transfer matter, energy, or information faster than the speed of light. (b) An object that regularly travels at a slower speed can't be made to travel at the speed of light - it can only approach it. (A photon, that is, a speed of light, can only travel at the speed of light.)


Is it possible to get more speed then light to the particle with accelerator?

No. The more energy the accelerator can give the particle, the closer the particle can approach to the speed of light, but it can never reach exactly that speed.


What happens hen you heat a particle up so fast it travels at the speed of light?

No particle can reach the speed of light. Mass increases with speed, and the particle would become infinitely massive as it came closer to the speed of light.


Why is the speed of light not higher?

The particle that is light is called the Photon. The photon is massless and can travel faster than any other particle because it has no mass. Any particle that has mass will require infinite energy to reach the velocity of light, which is impossible because the particle will have infinite mass in the process (Remember E=mc^2).


Is light faster than speed?

Your question makes no sense.The speed of light in a vacuum is c = 3 x 108 ms-1In simple terms, a photon of light will travel approximately 300,000,000 metres in 1 second.It's generally accepted that a particle cannot travel faster than the speed of light.