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How would you answer this speed-of-light question? (See details)

Asked by ETpro (34605points) October 16th, 2010

If a mirror were moving away from you at exactly the speed of light, and was 1 light hour away when you beamed a laser toward it, how long would it take for the laser light to reach the mirror and bounce back to your relatively stationary point of observation? (Stationary with regard to the motion of the mirror)

Now humor me. I realize that without dark energy pushing the expansion of the universe to the speed of light, a mirror could not be accelerated to that speed without gaining infinite mass. But imagine this is a magic mirror, and it does indeed travel at exactly the speed of light. How then would the experiment turn out? Would my laser light ever catch the mirror, and bounce back to me?

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