Speed of Light

Robert: College Student: Algebra and the Speed of Light

“What does TIME equal?”

Todd spoke up again, “Well, the derivative is TIME = DISTANCE divided by RATE.”

“Khahrahshoh.” Our Russian professor underlined “DISTANCE”. "What tells us if DISTANCE changes depending on where you are? Like on bullet train or on platform? On jet or on ground?” he asked.

Todd answered again, pointing to the equation, T = D/R. “Because ‘DISTANCE’ in the equation changes according to a person's perspective, wouldn’t Time also change accordingly?”

“Ochen khahrahshoh,” Orlav confirmed again. “If DISTANCE is proven to change by 'eye-view' of observer, then algebra tells us that TIME is also linked to person's eye-view.” Students nodded, reflecting back on the first few discussions they'd attended. One raised his hand to clarify what “eye-view” meant but just as quickly put it back down. “We need at least one part of equation that doesn't change by eye-view.” (Small laughter now.) Orlav glared out from under his bushy eyebrows at the audience. “What stays the same?”

A student raised her hand. “If TIME changes with higher speeds and DISTANCE also changes, there has to be at least one constant, right? Otherwise, the whole equation wouldn't have any real basis. It has to be RATE. It's the only factor left.”

Orlav wrote, “RATE = DISTANCE/TIME.” He paused for a long second, and hesitantly posed a question to the class, “What is po-angliski, I mean English word, for 'eye-view'?” The class laughed as they'd been itching to correct him for several lectures now, but no one was willing to risk it. Several hands shot up. “Yes?”

“PERSPECTIVE!” they echoed in unison. Surprised by the volume of their responses, Orlav's eyes widened slightly. He finally wrote a summary of their conversation: “RATE always equals person's relative DISTANCE (from an object) divided by person's relative (flow of) TIME: R=D/T”