What would happen if a sphere spun at the speed of light?

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by condelestat, Sep 30, 2010.

  1. condelestat Registered Member

    Messages:
    5
    If it were made from Osmium or Uranium or something better and large enough to fit in a person's hand.
    Would it explode or implode?
    Would it be displaced holding a fixed position in time and space and disappear?
    would it create a black hole?
    :m: day dreaming...
     
  2. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Nothing would happen - since it's impossible.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  4. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    since he did post in the free thoughts forum it is assumed it is a speculation question..

    i am thinking you used those elements for it wouldn't fall apart before it reached the speed of light..so to take that assumption to the next level lets assume that the substance it is made of is unbreakable which would render the explode/implode moot. and since black holes are created from implosions,that also is moot..
    which leaves:
    the question i see is would you be able to move it once it got to the speed of light? (oh wait..you did ask that..sorta)..so i don't see it as disappearing

    would it generate radiation?
    magnetic fields?
    previously unknown fields?

    once it got to the speed of light would we be able to effect(affect?) it at all?
    (could one touch it?)

    would it turn blue or red?
     
  6. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Sure, I can buy that.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    BUT my point still stands - why even bother to speculate on it? He might as well ask what he will look like if he lives to be 300 years old. HA! Not going to happen just like his original question.

    And to re-emphasize that, look at the things you said to him. <grin>

    Bottom line: Some things are just far to silly to even speculate about.
     
  8. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    cause its fun and ppl like to argue about silly things..
     
  9. Neverfly Banned Banned

    Messages:
    3,576
    Actually, it's not even that simple.

    The question cannot be speculated on because it has no answer.

    What he might look like if he lived to three hundred years of age can be speculated on because we can infer knowledge, even in a very unlikely situation.

    But spinning a sphere at the speed of light is not possible. There are no physics or mathematics that can describe any speculation as to what could happen aside that it cannot happen.

    That question is a bit like asking, "What would happen if I divided something by zero?"
    The only answer is, "Nothing would happen because you cannot divide anything by zero." If the querent pushes the issue, all you can do is roll your eyes and walk away.


    Edit to add: Here's something you can read about rapidly spinning spheres:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  10. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Precisely. And that's exactly what I said in my first response - thank you kindly.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  11. Neverfly Banned Banned

    Messages:
    3,576
    ya, I know... I just kinda...
    wanted to gang up on the squirrel.
    It's not that I dislike squirrels or anything.
    I'm just not quick to trust physics to a critter whose primary purpose in life is stuffing his nuts into his cheeks.
     
  12. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Ha-ha-ha!!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    I understand. My thanks were sincere, though, I just dislike seeing people waste time/mental energy on *anything* that's going nowhere. At least some of those cases have an amusing/entertaining aspect to them but this one didn't even have that. :shrug:
     
  13. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    fine..be that way..
    i'll just take my nuts elsewhere..
     
  14. clintonsmokesbud Registered Member

    Messages:
    1
    i dont know what would happen but it isnt impossible who ever said nothing can travel like that is wrong i believe were just to far to know what it is nothing is impossible but there are speeds faster then lighti believe...for example darkness:m:
     
  15. jmpet Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,891
    "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible." - Clarke

    To get a sphere to spin at light speed, it would have to speed up to light speed. As it sped it, it would require more and more energy to go faster, and the more dense it would become.

    At .9999% light speed, it would be impossibly dense with a very strong gravitational field.

    When it hits light speed, it has no measurable qualities except mass, charge and angular momentum.
     
  16. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    this intones a correlation between gravity and spin..

    although i realize that it is tied more to density, i have always wondered how spin affects (effects?) gravity..
     
  17. Neverfly Banned Banned

    Messages:
    3,576
    Ok, so you say Einstein is wrong.

    Please explain how, provide all your math for inspection and demonstrate the validity of your arguments.
     
  18. jmpet Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,891
    (or in English)

    I firmly believe in ways to "fold space" like in Dune. I am not so keen on wormholes- there is too much uncertainty to overcome to make it through.

    Just wish it was invented already.
     
  19. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    19,252
    It would shatter long before the speed approached C.
    All materials have a maximum strength.
    For example cast iron has a limiting rotational speed of 20 mph (I know - old units, but it's a figure that was ingrained into me decades ago as a rule of thumb when I was an engineering apprentice). Any combination of rotation and diameter that results in a circumferential speed of 20 mph will mean that the yield strength of CI has been exceeded and it will shatter - becoming a very effective shrapnel weapon.
    I've not seen it happen with cast iron, but I have seen it (at very close quarters) when a fellow apprentice used an air hose to get a ball race spinning quite fast. One second it was a fun "toy" whizzing at high velocity in his hand, the next second it was little chunks of high-grade stainless steel stuck in the walls and work benches. He and I were both lucky - we weren't in the line of "fire" - at the very least it should have taken his hand off.

    So effectively you're not only postulating an impossible-to-achieve-speed, you're also ignoring the mechanical properties of the material.
    If you get hold of some Unobtainium (none in stock at the moment, try next week) then you can run the experiment.
    Until then, since it's doubly impossible, you can make up your own results.
     
  20. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,105
    I think he's more into material Postulatium, but he might of used Anecdotium if he hadn't of been forewarned. (incidentally none of those are actual elements before you [meaning members of the forum] start growling about it.)
     
  21. Green Destiny Banned Banned

    Messages:
    1,211
    First of all, nothing material can ever reach the speed of light. If that were true, the classical definition of spin for particles would require more energy in the visible universe just to maintain that energy.

    It is true that black holes rotate at the speed of light. But as for making one, you require energy at the Planck Scale. That's lots.
     
  22. condelestat Registered Member

    Messages:
    5
    Thank you for your point of views and criticism. Those that chose to go beyond the known and proven are commended. I applaud your willingness to leave your comfort zones and think freely. I realy enjoy seeing your different approches.
     
  23. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    All of which boils down to the fact that you enjoy fairy tales.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    (Things not related to reality in any way, shape or form.)
     

Share This Page