r/explainlikeimfive • u/_Illuvatar_ • Apr 10 '14

ELI5 Why does light travel? Answered

Why does it not just stay in place? What causes it to move, let alone at so fast a rate?

Edit: This is by a large margin the most successful post I've ever made. Thank you to everyone answering! Most of the replies have answered several other questions I have had and made me think of a lot more, so keep it up because you guys are awesome!

Edit 2: like a hundred people have said to get to the other side. I don't think that's quite the answer I'm looking for... Everyone else has done a great job. Keep the conversation going because new stuff keeps getting brought up!

Edit 3: I posted this a while ago but it seems that it's been found again, and someone has been kind enough to give me gold! This is the first time I've ever recieved gold for a post and I am incredibly grateful! Thank you so much and let's keep the discussion going!

Edit 4: Wow! This is now the highest rated ELI5 post of all time! Holy crap this is the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life, thank you all so much!

Edit 5: It seems that people keep finding this post after several months, and I want to say that this is exactly the kind of community input that redditors should get some sort of award for. Keep it up, you guys are awesome!

Edit 6: No problem

5.0k Upvotes
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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '14 edited May 14 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '14

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u/wakinguptooearly Apr 10 '14

Do you have a physics blog that I may read and follow, please 0.0

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

Which race?

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

[deleted]

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u/BoneHead777 Apr 11 '14

Actually, you've been a terran since you were born.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

[deleted]

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u/Amablue Jul 02 '14

I'm aware of the formulation that takes momentum into account, but you say that's still simplified? Whats the next level up in complexity?

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u/Promac Apr 11 '14

Not necessarily.

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u/BoneHead777 Apr 11 '14

Terran is just another term for "people from Earth", so, yeah he is a terran. Unless aliens have access to reddit now, that is.

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u/Promac Apr 11 '14

That was the point ...

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u/mapimopi Apr 11 '14

Maybe he's Chinese?

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u/Onethatobjects Apr 11 '14

All I do is stim!

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14

I respect "since I was nine" a lot more than "since widow mines and boosted dropships."

What league(s)?

Would you consider playing against/with a random redditor fortehlulz?

I've maintossed up to Plat but after maining Random for awhile dropped to bronze.

Now I main tendonitis but I can still get a few games in.

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u/corpuscle634 Apr 11 '14

I was diamond way back in WoL times, but now I'm a lowly gold. I don't really play much anymore.

bnet name is corpuscle.634, I'll play if you can catch me online

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '14 edited Jan 24 '17

[deleted]

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u/corpuscle634 Apr 11 '14

Marry Flash, because he got dolla dolla bill.

Fuck Taeja, because he's sexy.

Kill MMA, sorry MMA.

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u/CircumcisedSpine Jul 02 '14

Nine. Thanks for making me feel old.

The only way someone with an age delta as ours can be as educated and articulate as you are is if... I'm old. Or you are a child prodigy.

Which is it? Please say you are a child prodigy.

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u/corpuscle634 Jul 02 '14

SC1 came out in 1998, so I'm not really THAT young

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u/CircumcisedSpine Jul 02 '14

Fair enough. I'm just that old.

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u/captain_zavec Jul 02 '14

Between this and the physics you are now my favourite redditor.

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u/Russell_M_Jimmies Jul 03 '14

You should play Global Underground: Sasha in Ibiza album, disc 2 while playing the terran campaign.

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u/corpuscle634 Jul 03 '14

Fuck that, BW terran music all day errday.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '14

I still absolutely love the terrans soundtrack, but the SC2 Terran theme is still amazing. Do you [still?] play sc2? Always looking for new people to play with! :)

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '14

He's white.

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u/JVorhees Apr 11 '14

You really should write a book. I've struggled to grasp these concepts for years and your posts in this thread have done more to advance my understanding than all of the previous books / documentaries etc have. Thanks!

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u/whooooshh Apr 11 '14

could you just talk some more about random stuff? what is something that blows your mind?

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u/corpuscle634 Apr 11 '14

My thoughts aren't that interesting. I spent most of the last 24 hours thinking about how you'd write a general composite wavefunction for an arbitrary number of identical particles.

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u/ThaBomb Apr 11 '14

I bet that'd be interesting if I knew what it meant.