Spaceman Spiff races photons trying to beat Einstein to the edge of the universe
Spaceman Spiff is racing across the known universe at a relativistic speed. Inside his spaceship, he has a crude speedometer rigged.
He fires a photon from the top of his Spaceship to the bottom of his Spaceship. That photon travels a total distance of d = 98.208 feet.
A light illuminates at the photon’s release; a second light illuminates at its finish. Between flashes, Spiff, measured from Earth, travels D = 1.00259004 miles. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second.
Find Spaceman Spiff’s speed S.
Send your answer to [email protected] and you might win a Tucker’s gift card.
Last week’s winner was John Lovato with A = 2,025 square meters.
Jeff Smith is a former Math teacher and a retired US Navy Lieutenant Commander. Reach him at [email protected].
