So I have a little quandary that's been on my mind (on and off) for a good while now, hoping somebody can explain this.

Now as we all know, the speed of light is currently considered the "universal speed limit", the fastest matter or energy can travel. So we'll keep that in mind.

So, imagine that I have an iron bar (we'll just take away gravity for convenience) that's so long, it stretches from one end of the galaxy to the other. By this I mean the longest end to the other longest end, which if I remember correctly is 20,000 lightyears.

So here's this 20,000 LY long bar in space. Suppose I grab one end and push it to the side, it should make the other end move in unison like any other bar, right? But for that to happen, I'd have to apply energy at one end, and have a reaction from that energy occure at the other. This means that energy applied at one point can somehow travel to the other, 20,000X faster than the speed of light which should be impossible.

So how could this work? If no energy can travel faster than light, how does energy instantaneously travel 20,000 Light Years?
Gandalf_The_Grey Reviewed by Gandalf_The_Grey on . I need somebody knowledgeable in physics So I have a little quandary that's been on my mind (on and off) for a good while now, hoping somebody can explain this. Now as we all know, the speed of light is currently considered the "universal speed limit", the fastest matter or energy can travel. So we'll keep that in mind. So, imagine that I have an iron bar (we'll just take away gravity for convenience) that's so long, it stretches from one end of the galaxy to the other. By this I mean the longest end to the other longest end, Rating: 5