Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Special relativity. The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted c, is a universal physical constant that is exactly equal to 299,792,458 metres per second (approximately 300,000 kilometres per second; 186,000 miles per second; 671 million miles per hour).
is the speed of light (i.e. phase velocity) in a medium with permeability μ, and permittivity ε, and ∇ 2 is the Laplace operator. In a vacuum, v ph = c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s, a fundamental physical constant. [1] The electromagnetic wave equation derives from Maxwell's equations.
The value of ε 0 is defined by the formula [3] = where c is the defined value for the speed of light in classical vacuum in SI units, [4]: 127 and μ 0 is the parameter that international standards organizations refer to as the magnetic constant (also called vacuum permeability or the permeability of free space).
The speed of light in vacuum is defined to be exactly 299 792 458 m/s (approx. 186,282 miles per second). The fixed value of the speed of light in SI units results from the fact that the metre is now defined in terms of the speed of light. All forms of electromagnetic radiation move at exactly this same speed in vacuum.
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein 's 1905 treatment, the theory is presented as being based on just two postulates: [ p 1][ 1][ 2] The laws of physics are invariant (identical) in all inertial frames of reference ...
While the speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant (c = 299,792,458 m/s), the speed in a material may be significantly less, as it is perceived to be slowed by the medium. For example, in water it is only 0.75 c .
In the context of this article, "faster-than-light" means the transmission of information or matter faster than c, a constant equal to the speed of light in vacuum, which is 299,792,458 m/s (by definition of the metre) [ 3] or about 186,282.397 miles per second. This is not quite the same as traveling faster than light, since:
In vacuum, M = 0. In the International System of Quantities (ISQ), the speed of light in vacuum, c, [15] is related to the magnetic constant and the electric constant (vacuum permittivity), ε 0, by the equation: =.