10 results for “speed of light”
Matter, Energy & Physics
Light
light speed, you measure it passing you at exactly the usual speed, not one and a half
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Black Holes
speed of light. Nothing can go faster than light, so nothing can leave. You have made
Article · 3 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Electricity and Magnetism
speed of light, so a lamp lights the instant the switch closes. Resistance, the difficulty electrons
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
The Origin of Life
light, produced nucleotides and sugars too. Nature does the same chemistry without a laboratory. Meteorites that fell to Earth contain dozens of amino acids and the bases of DNA. Radio telescopes detect
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Space Exploration
speed takes huge amounts of fuel, which is why most of a rocket's weight at launch is propellant, and why rockets drop empty sections, called stages, as they climb. The space
Article · 3 min read
Planets & the Solar System
The Sun
light takes just over eight minutes to cross 150 million kilometres to Earth. Spots, flares and storms The Sun is threaded with magnetic fields, and because different parts rotate at different speeds
Article · 4 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Sound
Speed of sound Because sound needs something to travel through, it cannot cross empty space. In air it moves at about 343 metres per second, roughly a kilometre every three seconds
Article · 3 min read
Space & the Universe
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
light, and it barely touches ordinary matter at all. The leading idea is that it consists of a new kind of particle, slow-moving and heavy, left over from the Big Bang
Article · 3 min read
Chemistry
Chemical Reactions
light until you strike it. This starting push is called the activation energy: the bonds have to be shaken loose before new ones can form. Fast and slow Some reactions take years
Article · 3 min read
Space & the Universe
Galaxies and the Milky Way
light-years. The two heavyweights are the Milky Way and Andromeda, each attended by dozens of small satellites. Andromeda is approaching us at 110 kilometres per second. In about 4.5 billion years
Article · 4 min read
