Speed of Light

$c=\lambda v$

Emmanuel Ogunrinde 3L
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:24 pm

Speed of Light

Is speed of light a constant (3*10^8) or does it ever change?

Clarissa Nava 3H
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 6:05 am

Re: Speed of Light clarissa nava 3H

It does not change it will always be 3*10^8

AustinGrove3B
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:23 pm

Re: Speed of Light

more specifically 2.99792 x 108. I think in the book they use this (more sig figs) than 3.0 x 108

Maya_Peterson1C
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:28 pm

Re: Speed of Light

I did some research behind it, and some sources are claiming that recent studies show light doesn't always travel at the speed proposed by Einstein's theory. However, for the purposes of this class the speed of light is assumed to be constant.

Manya Kidambi 3I
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:24 pm

Re: Speed of Light

You should treat it as a constant in any sort of calculations done for this class. I’m sure for higher level chemistry this would be different, but at this point I wouldn’t worry.

Ruiting Jia 4D
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:27 pm

Re: Speed of Light

AustinGrove3B wrote:more specifically 2.99792 x 108. I think in the book they use this (more sig figs) than 3.0 x 108

Would it be advisable to calculate using 2.99792 x 10^8 on the exams? I'm not sure when to apply significant figures - either throughout the problem or just for the final answer.

404817859
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:02 am

Re: Speed of Light

sig figs will give more of an precise answer, either way should work :)

405098546
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:24 pm

Re: Speed of Light

For the purposes of this class the speed of light probably will always stay the same. Though I think in certain mediums like water or glass the light of speed can change.

Dhwani Krishnan 1G
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:17 pm

Re: Speed of Light

the speed of light changes with the medium, in air it is 3.0x10^8m/s.

Timothy_Yueh_4D
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:28 pm

Re: Speed of Light

Just wanted to add that the speed of light is constant throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum (~3.00 * 10^8 m/s)

Diana Sandoval 1K
Posts: 42
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:25 pm
Been upvoted: 1 time

Re: Speed of Light

It's assumed to be a constant and from my knowledge I believe we will be given the constant.

Anjali 4A
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:28 pm

Re: Speed of Light

Will we be provided all of these constants/equations during the tests, midterms and final?

Danny Zhang 4L
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:26 pm

Re: Speed of Light

Anjali 4A wrote:Will we be provided all of these constants/equations during the tests, midterms and final?

I am sure that we will get a cover sheet with all of the constants/equations as we did on the first test on all future tests as well.

Connie Chen 3D
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:12 am

Re: Speed of Light

The speed of light is a constant, therefore it will never change. You can, however, convert it to other units if you wish, as long as all the correct units cancel out.

Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:18 pm

Re: Speed of Light

The speed of light is always constant, and we are provided the value during tests and exams so we can just use whatever value they give us

isarose0
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:15 pm

Re: Speed of Light

The speed of light is constant and will not change, there may be a more specific value, however, it is most commonly known as 3x10^8 m/s

Aleeque Marselian 1A
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:24 pm

Re: Speed of Light

I'm pretty sure that for this class, we treat the speed of light as a constant all the time.

405098546
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:24 pm

Re: Speed of Light

Speed of light is constant

davidryan3f
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:23 pm

Re: Speed of Light

light always travels at the same speed regardless of wavelength or amplitude. it is a constant.