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Let's say I have an infinitely long rod which I use to pass information to my friend on the other end. If the rod moves towards my friend, it means I sent a 1 and if the rod moves away from my friend, it means I sent a 0. Using this rod to transfer binary information to my friend, can I send information that travels faster than the speed of light? Or in other words, can I talk with my friend instantly irrespective of the distance between me and my friend?

Is this theoretically possible? My assumption is that push and pull of the rod is instant. Is it really instant or the push and pull also travels at the speed of light limiting the speed of my communication?

harun_a
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1 Answers1

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I'll give a short answer. 'Is it theoretically possible?' The answer is NO. That's because there can never exist a perfectly rigid body. The actual structure is the crystal lattice, which holds the vibrating atoms in a region of space. In other words, inter-atomic forces act on each atom. Consider some atom A. A is held at the crystal site by inter-atomic forces. A change in the neighbourhood of A, will only have an effect on it, if these inter-atomic forces pass on that information of 'change' to A. So, the information you send(by tapping the rod suppose) will only travel from one point to another at best the speed of light, since in the end, it uses these forces to travel to your friend.

Lelouch
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