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In 1886, an experiment was conducted by Michelson and Morley in an attempt to prove Newton's .
theory of absolute motion, whichis motion that stays the same regardless of the system it is measured .
in. While conducting the experiment, Michelson and Morley stumbledupon an unexplainable occurrence, .
which proved that the speed of light is constant. For example, if a bicycle was traveling at ten miles.
per hour, and a car was traveling by its side at forty miles per hour, the difference between the two .
would be thirty miles per hour. On the contrary, if a beam of light travels at 186,172 miles per .
second and a rocket travels at 180,000 miles per second, the beam of lightwould be traveling 186,172.
miles per second faster than the rocket which proves that the speed of light is constant. This fact.
baffled scientists for many years without anyone coming up with any scientific explanation.
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Einstein's theory of the speed of light being constant was that there was no absolute motion.
According to Einstein, the only absolutein the universe is the speed of light. It may seem impossible.
to think about it, but the fact is, constancy of the speed of light is importantin the universe. Consider.
two stars orbiting around their center of mass. Suppose the one star is approaching Earth and the other.
star is receding, the speed of the stars could be traveling extremely fast. Imagine that the speed of the.
stars is fifty miles per second. If the speed of light was not constant, then the approaching star would .
be traveling at the speed of light plus the speed of the star while the receding star is traveling .
at the speed of light minus the speed of the star. In short, we would have many beams of light from this.
system traveling through space in ourdirection, each with a different speed, and as a result they would .
pass one another on their trip to Earth. Extrapolating this to the entire universe, where most objects .
