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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Can you measure the one way speed of light without synchronised clocks?
« on: 22/05/2021 06:23:28 »It should be fairly easy to calculate the one-way speed of light. The problem is doing so with any reasonable amount of accuracy.
Here's how I would do it.SpeedOfLight.gif (9.32 kB . 669x311 - viewed 45063 times)
Light (strong laser) passes through two shaft connected spinning discs, hits a cylindrical (conical) mirror, and is projected onto a wall to record. Mostly interested in the trailing edge of the light spot.
The shaft will twist if it's aligned with its direction of travel, so the slits won't both be at the top or bottom at the same time as each other. If you imagine two clocks at either end of the shaft with their dials aligned with the discs and with a nanosecond hand going round, the alignment of the apparatus and its speed of travel will affect the synchronisation of the two clocks, so the hands, just like the slits in the discs, will not always both be at the top or bottom at the same time, even if they are when the apparatus is at rest. Move it to the right and the clock (and disc) to the right will lag in its timing compared to the clock (and disc) to the left. This, in combination with length contraction, will always completely mask the differences you're trying to measure.
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