Speed of light
extremely large, early attempts to measure the speed of light fail
light considered to have infinite speed
to measure speed of light easily we need:
- measuring small time intervals
wiser approach: Hippolyte Fizeau (1849)
speed of light in vacuum: 299,792,458 m/s (~ 3x108 m/s)
speed of light smaller in air or fluids
universal constant in vacuum: does not depend on the relative speed of the source and observer--> special relativity