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while smoking a cigarette a question popped into my head that shows my lack of knowledge with physics. If a force is applied to one side of an object how long does it take for the force to reach the other side of the object. I was thinking, with tensile strengths and other things that must be taken into account.. but lets say for arguement at absolute zero.. how fast could the force transfer from one side to the other?
Thanks
We are only limited by our Will and our Imagination.
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What kind of cigarette were you smoking...? ???
I'd definitely say that a force that humans can produce will be slower than light. Even a photon would slow down when meeting an object. It will heat up the object while losing speed. That falls under the law of Conservation of Energy and Matter. The heat will disipate in all directions and therefore the energy/force would reach the far side of the object a little slower than if the object wasn't there. I'm no physicist so that is just a gut reaction (with some fancy terms so it sounds like I know what I'm talking about). :;):
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Force would travel through the object at the speed of sound(in the respective solid). If you imagine the object being very long, when you push on it you will slightly compress it at the end the force is being applied, this compression will be transmitted along the material just like the compresive (transverse?) waves of sound through air, then will act to extend the material slightly at the end, thus the material will have moved.
Note: This might not be a very good explanation and i in no way intend to imply that any matter is transmitted down the beam/object, only energy.
cheers
nick
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