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Actually there are things that travel at the speed of light other than light itself. According to special relativity all massless particles must travel at the speed of light, so this includes for example gluons, or the particles that supposedly mediate gravity, the gravitons (the 'speed of gravity' is equal to the speed of light).
The prime reason why this must be so is that the speed of light must be the same for all inertial observers according to special relativity and if massless particles could travel at slower speeds than you can have an observer for which such a massless particle would not be moving, but because it has no mass it would have no energy at all; it would not exist!
Massive particles must always travel slower than the speed of light because the energy required to accelerate any particle with mass to the speed of light is infinite.
A more technical answer is that all particles must be in a representation of the Lorentz group and a massless representation only exists if the speed is that of light all the time. Likewise massive representations cannot exist at the speed of light.
What else can I help you with?
What goes faster than the speed of light?
Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, according to the theory of relativity.
Is gravity faster than light?
No, gravity is not faster than light. According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.
Is it possible for anything to move faster than light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can move faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.
Is it possible for anything to travel faster than light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.
What does the theory of general relativity mean in plain language?
The theory of relativity is the theory that states that light moves at a certain speed, and nothing can move faster than it. It is physically impossible.
Is it possible for anything to move faster than the speed of light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing with mass can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.
Is it possible for anything to travel faster than the speed of light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing with mass can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum.
When did Albert Einstein discover the theory of relativity?
Einstein's theory of special relativity, proposed in 1905, states that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. !!!!! But researchers at the CERN lab near Geneva claim they have recorded neutrinos, a type of tiny particle, traveling faster than the barrier of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second.!!!!! << major breakthrough.. Because we have based almost everything on his relativity E=MC^2
Why can nothing be faster than light?
According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light because as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases infinitely and would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate further. This means that it is physically impossible for anything to exceed the speed of light.
If special relativity states that the speed of light is a constant how can refractive index be an indication of a change in the speed of light?
The relativity statement refers specifically to the speed of light in a vacuum.
Speed of a proton is 275c?
A speed of 275c implies that the proton is traveling at 275 times the speed of light. This speed is not possible according to the theory of relativity, which states that nothing with mass can travel at the speed of light or faster.
Why can nothing go faster than light?
According to Einstein's theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light because as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases infinitely and would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate further. This means that it is physically impossible for anything to exceed the speed of light.
