Posted by grim (206.162.192.40) on August 12, 2002 at 17:01:39:
In Reply to: Data from quasars calls Einstein into question posted by Scott Ellis on August 11, 2002 at 22:09:40:
Maybe someone could answer a question for me. When I was in school an instructor told us that light travels 186,282 miles per second in a vacuum, slightly less in air and even less thru water. He told us that light going thru the air passing into a bottle of water changes speed thru the glass, the water, the glass again, and when it enters the air on the other side resumes its original velocity through air that it started with. I asked how it was possible for the light to accelerate back to its "thru air" speed with no boost of energy to accelerate it, my question was ignored. Doesn't this violate the law of conservation? Maybe I missed something. Can anyone shed any light on this (no pun intended)?
----grim