Re: Why is the speed of light 186,000 miles per second? Why not 200,000 ?

Hi,

I'm not sure what your question means.

Perhaps you mean, why isn't the value of the speed of light a nice,
round number like 200,000 miles per second instead of 186,282 miles per
second?

The answer to this is that the units used (miles per second) are 
completely arbitrary and man-made, having nothing to do with the basic
constants of the universe.  In another arbitrary system of units, the 
speed is 299,792,458 meters per second, which again is not a nice, round
number. In fact, some physicists use a system of units in which the speed
of light is equal to 1, which is much easier to use in calculations.

Or maybe your question means, why does light travel the speed that it
does?  Why doesn't it go faster, or slower?  What's so special about
the speed that it has?   

The answer to this is, nobody knows (yet).  The speed of light is a
fundamental constant of the universe which we can't predict from any 
basic principles, but which we have to measure to find out what it is.
In fact, if this speed were much different, we probably wouldn't exist --
as is well-known, it is one of the several fundamental constants of the
universe that are "fine-tuned" to just such a value as would allow life 
to exist.


Regards,
Aaron