A-Ha, Awakening, "Eureka!", Lightbulb.....

Hi Andrew,

> What is the answer?

> "What if he was riding a wave of light,
> and held a flashlight -- what would happen
> to the light from the flashlight?"

> Would the light from the flashlight he is
> holding travel at the same speed... or twice
> as fast, what? I'm thinking same speed...
> but not sure.

Heheh, yes, the answer would be same speed.... :)

Light is very strange, since in the emptiness of space, it always travels at the same speed, no matter how fast the "source" of light is going....

Good thinking! :)

However, another part of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity is that objects with mass (that is, almost everything EXCEPT light) CANNOT go at the speed of light.... So it would be physically impossible for a person (or a flashlight) to "ride" on a light wave.... But the whole exercise of thinking about it helped to lead Einstein to these great insights!

- Dien