What happens if you push a lot of (ideal) balls that are perfectly aligned?

Question

Assume the line of balls is 2 light years long. When I push the first ball, will the last one react instantaneously? This would break the light speed limit. I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I don't know why.

Also, assume the balls and the environment are ideal: no deformation can happen to the balls, no friction occurs etc

Absolute rigidity is incompatible with relativity – Mar 02 '17 at 19:24 — , Mar 02 '17 at 19:24

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '17 at 19:35

2

I don't know much about this stuff, but I think that you start sort of a chain reaction between the atoms that move at the speed of sound in that material. So it would actually be a lot slower than the speed of light.

answered Mar 02 '17 at 19:35

TheEggHealer

31

What happens if you push a lot of (ideal) balls that are perfectly aligned?

1 Answers1