In physics as we understand it today, can an electron be made to move faster than the speed of light in vacuum? Whether by natural causes, or man-made means?
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As far as we know, any object with non-zero mass cannot be accelerated to faster than the speed of light, nor even to equal the speed of light. When we run particle accelerators at the highest energy we can manage, the speed of the particles is always just under the speed of light. We can get very close, something like 99.999999999% the speed of light. But, increasing the energy of the particle does not measurably increase its speed.
Photons, particles of light, can reach light speed because they have zero mass. In fact, because of its lack of mass, a photon can only travel at the speed of light.
Mark H
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