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    Chasing the speed of light

    Add nines to an object’s speed and watch the Lorentz factor, the slowing of its clock and the energy needed climb toward infinity at the speed of light.

    0.0010.010.111010010³10⁴10⁵10⁶ENERGY NEEDED ÷ REST ENERGY (log scale)0c0.2c0.4c0.6c0.8ccSPEEDLIGHT SPEED: A WALLNEWTON: ½mv² (never more than ½)EINSTEIN: (γ − 1)mc²
    0.9900 c

    Each step to the right adds digits of 9: 0.9c, 0.99c, 0.999c and so on.

    Object
    LORENTZ FACTOR γ7.0888
    YEARS AT HOME PER SHIP YEAR7.089
    SHORT OF LIGHT SPEED BY2998 km/s
    ENERGY NEEDED (1 kg)5.47 × 10¹⁷ J

    The physics, the assumptions behind this tool and the sources are explained in Why nothing can go faster than light.

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