this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
52 points (77.7% liked)
science
14362 readers
700 users here now
just science related topics. please contribute
note: clickbait sources/headlines aren't liked generally. I've posted crap sources and later deleted or edit to improve after complaints. whoops, sry
Rule 1) Be kind.
lemmy.world rules: https://mastodon.world/about
I don't screen everything, lrn2scroll
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Oh apologies with a missed detail. The battery+switch and the lightbulb are 1 meter apart and are connected by a wire that is 1 lightyear long.
Assuming that electricity is only carried inside the wire (like our conventional understanding and models expect), yes it does break the speed of light but electricity doesn't actually travel inside the wire but in the electric field around the wire, which gives the wire near the battery to affect the wire near the light and create a tiny voltage difference, thereby nearly instantly lighting the lightbulb that reaches max brightness on any voltage differential.
Thanks! I think I'm starting to understand it now. When the switch is flicked, the field starts doing its thing, whatever that is, and thus electricity begins to flow "in the vicinity" of the lightbulb and the switch. That's why the lightbulb turns on.
Having said that, if there was another lightbulb connected at the opposite extreme of the circuit, say, half a lightyear away, then that lightbulb wouldn't immediately turn on. It will turn on eventually, but like, six months later. Would that be correct?
Yup that's it
Wild! Thanks!