Simulation Video of Light Travelling From New York to Back in Less Than a Second Amazes Viewers
The motion of light is tough to capture on camera, hence a YouTuber created a simulation of it traveling around the world to help people experience the speed of light. The results were so captivating that the video gathered 25 million views in around a year.
The frames of several oceans pass by quickly, giving viewers the impression of light's trip around the globe. The viewers who posted in the comment section, were shocked to witness that light can complete one round of the earth in less than a second. 'Lightning quick' was no longer just a phrase for people who saw the video but a reality.
Speed of Light
The speed of light always remains constant, LADBible reported. The speed with which it travels around the world is 299,792,458 meters per second. This speed never changes, it neither accelerates nor decelerates.
Albert Einstein made this observation through his Special Theory of Relativity, the American Museum of Natural History reported. As per this theory, the speed of light does not alter with respect to the source of the light. No matter how fast the source of light is, the speed remains the same.
Viral YouTube Video
The video by Airplane Mode starts with a simple question, "What would it look like to go around the earth once at the speed of light?" The YouTuber puts up frames assuming what the viewers would guess and rejects them all. The overlay text reads, "It would take 0.13 seconds for light to complete one full trip around the Earth."
Thereafter, the video attempts to showcase how the speed of light would look to the naked eye. It picked up from New York and then visited many countries and continents before landing back in The Big Apple. The whole journey had only eight frames. The first two were of the Pacific Ocean, LAD Bible reported.
After the Pacific Ocean, it was Brisbane, and then two frames of the Indian Ocean. The sixth one showed the Saudi Arabian desert, followed by one frame of Zimbabwe. The entire experience was so rushed that at certain points it seemed that people were just looking at pictures and did not even have the time to cover the whole water body or city. It truly was the epitome of 'blink and you will miss.' The video ended by showcasing a comparison with the speed of sound.
Responses
The viewers were stupefied to witness the majestic phenomenon in front of their eyes. @Whatisvr noted how even with such immense speed it is impossible for light to achieve certain aims and wrote, "Now imagine traveling this fast for a billion years straight. And still not being able to reach the edge of the universe. Insane."
@aumpatel2433 commented on how the speed of light puts into perspective the massive distance between the sun and the planet, "What’s even crazier is that even with how fast light is, the sun is so far away that it still takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for sunlight to reach Earth."