Does A Prism Imply The Existence Of An Aether Field

I'll wait until somebody tries to explain why the Sagnac effects proves there is an ether first. There's little point in wasting time proving negatives.
 
Light which circumnavigates the globe and returns back to its starting point doesn't travel at c relative to the observers on the Earth. Needless to say I was shocked when I first learned this.
 
Zeno said:
Light which circumnavigates the globe and returns back to its starting point doesn't travel at c relative to the observers on the Earth. Needless to say I was shocked when I first learned this.
Click to expand...

Just how do you propose light circumnavigates? Light bends around mass, sure, we see gravitational lensing effects because of this, but light will not orbit the Earth, ....... I think you'll find that light goes a little faster than escape velocity!
 
Go out at night, bring a flashlight, point the flashlight to the east and turn it on. Turn around face the west and turn on the flashlight once again. You will find that the light travelling eastwardly travels away from you more slowly than the light travelling westwardly. The light travels at a constant speed relative to some kind of aether while the earth spins within it.
 
Zeno said:
Go out at night, bring a flashlight, point the flashlight to the east and turn it on. Turn around face the west and turn on the flashlight once again. You will find that the light travelling eastwardly travels away from you more slowly than the light travelling westwardly. The light travels at a constant speed relative to some kind of aether while the earth spins within it.
Click to expand...
April Fools?
 
Yeah. Zeno must be just joking, because actual measurements have been done, and what he wrote is not in fact true.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagnac_effect

If a number of stations situated on the equator relay pulses to one another, will the time-keeping still match after the relay has circumnavigated the globe? One condition for handling the relay correctly is that the time it takes the signal to travel from one station to the next is taken into account each time. On a non-rotating planet that ensures fidelity: two time-disseminating relays, going full circle in opposite directions around the globe, will arrive at the originating station simultaneously. However, on a rotating planet, it must also be taken into account that the receiver moves during the transit time of the signal, shortening or lengthening the transit time compared to what it would be in the situation of a non-rotating planet.
Click to expand...

Sorry, no joke.
 
Last edited:
Umm, having the signal travel a shorter distance as it moves one direction around the planet than the other direction around the planet due to the Earth's rotation is grossly different from your statement that the light itself leaving a flashlight is traveling at a different speed depending upon which direction you point it.

An analogy would be in the game of duck-duck-goose, the person who is "it" runs around the circle but in this case is being chased by two children, one going in either direction. It can be clearly seen that the child running in the opposite direction will make the tag before the other and that does not imply that he/she is a faster runner.
 
The distance around the Earth is the same whether the Earth is rotating or not, also it is the same in either direction. So, therefore, if it completes the journey in more/less time it is moving more slowly/quickly around the Earth. So, maybe you would like to explain where the extra distance is coming from?
 
Last edited:
So you can't read (or understand) what you yourself posted?
Look at the Wiki quote again and read the italicised sentence: it states EXACTLY where extra/ less distance comes from.
 
Yes. The extra distance comes from more 'aether' that the light must move through.
 
Correct. The receiver moves relative to the aether that the light is moving through. It isn't moving relative to the surface of the Earth.
 
The receiver that is on the surface of the Earth moves as the Earth rotates.
Therefore in one direction it will approach the transmission point at its own speed, and in the other direction it is "running away".
You can get exactly the same effect timing someone on a merry-go round.
No ether required.
 
Zeno you miss the point. The light is not free to move. It is being forced to move around the earth in this example. The light is not moving in a straight line. No aether assumptions are necessary and make no sense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top