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The Speed Of Light Slowed

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Anonymous

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Malcolm Rikeur, Wales

This happened to me about 4 years ago, It is very easy to recreate the circumstances, but I have been unable to do so.

I was travelling along the M4 motorway, it was beginning to get dark. When it was dark enough to have the headlights on, I happened to glance down at my old mobile phone (I think it was one of the original mobiles, as it was huge compared to the phones nowadays)

The phone was in the side of the door, and I noticed the red LED light was flashing, but the weird thing was that the reflection of the LED was appearing about half a second later!

Now this phenomena seemed just a little bit odd, because I believe light is supposed to travel rather quickly!!

I kept staring down (whilst driving along the road!) and it was consistently doing it, the light would come on, then half a second later, the reflection would appear on the inside of the door. (which was light coloured metal)

When I eventually pulled over, I watched the light again, but it was behaving as you would expect...the light would come on and the reflection would appear simultaneously on the inside of the door.



All attempts to replicate this with a variety of gadgets and flashing lights have failed...
 
umm weird! speed of light is approx 186,000miles per SECOND, so if it took 1/2 a second to travel a few cm's then somethin is wrong!
 
Well, if he was seeing the flash before the reflection, then the light was travelling at normal speed toward his eyes...bizarre.
 
how pissed was he, do you reckon?

does light slow down when it passes through different mediums? i seem to remember this as the explanation for light bending when it hits a pane of glass...or lik ehow you have to aim below a fish in order to spear it.
 
Remembered A level physics:

Light doesn't actually slow down in glass, it just has to bounce around glass' crystalline structure.

Light's discrete speed in unchageable - but it's point to point average velocity can vary as it passes through dense materials.

Unlikely to happen as it passes through a couple of inches of free air in a car.

It's a puzzle, wrapped in a quandry - wearing a riddle.
 
Actually, light does slow down when travelling through anything other than a vacuum, though the decrease in speed is extremly small.:hmph:
 
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