How to calculate the speed of light? - ProProfs Discuss
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How to calculate the speed of light?

Asked by Howard Reyes, Last updated: Apr 12, 2024

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M. Pollock

M. Pollock

A person who loves taking epic photos and an avid traveler

M. Pollock
M. Pollock, Photographer, BA, Camden Town

Answered Sep 27, 2019

The speed of light was first measured by Ole Roemer in 1676. And since this time, people have been making frantic towards improving on the accuracy of what was gotten by Roemer. Ole Roemer concluded his findings by giving 214,000 km/s as the speed of light. However, a man known as James Bradley performed another experiment, and he got the speed to be 300,000 km/s, a value that's very close to what Roemer got. However, the speed of light can be calculated using a modern experiment that's based on the use of Lasers.

This is how it works. The beam of light from a laser is split into two. One goes to a detector, and the other goes to a mirror. The beam of light on the mirror will be reflected back to another mirror and then to a second detector. The frequency of the pulses for both detectors will be recorded by attaching them to an oscilloscope. However, the speed of light can be calculated by determining the distance, and by separating the peaks recorded for the two mirrors.

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C. Lopez

C. Lopez

Driving down to Knowledge town

C. Lopez
C. Lopez, Chauffer, Chauffer, Watertown

Answered Mar 01, 2019

The speed of light was first calculated by a Danish astronomer, Olaus Roemer. He figured the rate of speed by watching the eclipses of the moons of Jupiter and estimating how fast the light moved. Although Roemer was off in his calculations, mathematics was not fully evolved enough at the time to successfully capture the correct rate of speed.

The speed of light was first calculated by a Danish astronomer, Olaus Roemer. He figured the rate
Galileo also ran into the same problem when he attempted to estimate the speed of light. Today, these calculations are studied in controlled settings, using lasers and a vacuum to capture the exact moments and get the most constant speed. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.

The speed of light was first calculated by a Danish astronomer, Olaus Roemer. He figured the rate

Now, there are mediums which will cause this speed to change, either slower or faster, and those mediums have been noted, and further studies are taking place. The measurements are made when a point of light goes from one location to another, and then the mathematical equations are taken into account.

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