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Relativity says the speed of light is the same in all reference frames. Newton's Third Law says any action has an equal and opposite reaction. These two ideas
by snarfy 12y ago
Relativity says the speed of light is the same in all reference frames. Newton's Third Law says any action has an equal and opposite reaction. These two ideas are incompatible. If you shine a light beam from a moving object, it doesn't make a faster moving light beam. The reaction is not equal and opposite. Since light carries momentum, Newton's ideas about conservation of momentum might be wrong too.
- colanderman 12y agoRelativity is self-consistent and incorporates conservation of momentum. (Photons can carry differing amounts of energy, and therefore momentum. This is exhibited as differing wavelengths. Specifically, light being emitted from a moving object is blue/redshifted depending on the relative motion of the observer.)