Why is the speed of light 299 792 458 m/s? Why not 100,999,328 m/s?
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Anonymous2010-09-15 7:02
Because of how we defined the metre and the second.
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Anonymous2010-09-15 15:52
Well, duh. But what is the reason for it to go the speed it does go? What makes that the max speed in the universe?
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Anonymous2010-09-15 21:26
The easiest answer to give is that the universe has made it the max speed in the universe.
There's the relativistic answer to this question that postulates that an object that moves faster than the speed of light would actually be at its destination before it started - it would be moving backwards through time (see: "tachyon antitelephone"). Either the evidence of this reverse-time process does not naturally occur - the process does not occur - or its effects can not be perceived and we interpret it the same as "forward motion."