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22 Apr 2008 14:57:29 IST

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wat is mean by 'luminiferous ether'

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wat is mean by 'luminiferous ether'

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ultimator

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Joined: 27 Mar 2008

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22 Apr 2008 15:25:43 IST

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U knw the definition of a meter right ?

It is the distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1 / 299792458 of a second.

So, this means light's speed is assumed to be constant right ?
Then, what about relative velocity ? If the observer is moving at a speed, shouldnt light's speed according to him vary ?

To overcome this confusion, ppl created the concept of luminiferous ether.

ultimator

Blazing goIITian

Joined: 27 Mar 2008

Posts: 412

22 Apr 2008 15:27:52 IST

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So, now, it was considered that light travelled at a constant speed with respect to this medium called ether which existed everywhere !

The problem was, it could not be detected and it was purely hypothetical, but still that did not mind for most.

This concept of ether was abolished when einstein introduced his general laws of relativity.

Wanna know how ?

Read on....

ultimator

Blazing goIITian

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22 Apr 2008 15:32:50 IST

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According to einstein's theory of relativity, no object could ever move faster than the speed of light and no object with a mass could even attain the speed of light. This theory also said, whatever be the frame of reference, light ALWAYS moves at the same speed with respect to the observer, however fast the observer was traveling. This theory first seemed outrageous but ppl slowly accepted it.

Now, since light always moved at a constant speed, ether was no longer reqd to be assumed n was thr4 abolished.

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suresan

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Joined: 10 Mar 2008

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23 Apr 2008 10:07:14 IST

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When Huygen proposed the wave theory of light it was considered as a mechanical wave because the concept of electromagnetic waves was not yet developed. Since all the mechanical waves require a medium of propogation a hypothetical medium was proposed. This hypothetical medium is known as luminiferous ether. Later Michelson-Morley experiment conclusively proved that such medium does not exist.

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