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Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? (1997)

math.ucr.edu

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Re: Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? (1997)

#33

Post by pixl97 »

xNeil wrote: post #30
scott_w wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, my understanding is that Google interprets you clicking then going back within a short period of time as “I didn’t find what I was looking for.”

I mean, if you go back I'd assume you didn't find the answer. If you close the tab, that's a different thing, and tells me you did , in fact, find what you were looking for.

And if you're the type to open 5 or 6 tabs and look through them?

Re: Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? (1997)

#34

Post by raincole »

codetrotter wrote: post #18
Alifatisk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right! Most articles I stumble upon nowadays is filled with everything besides the answer until I scroll to the bottom.

Thank the SEO practices for that :( It is often understood that in order to rank on Google you have to have a certain length to the content. So then what do people do when they want to write about something that has a simple answer? Why, pad it with heaps of unnecessary paragraphs of garbage text of course. All in the name of ranking. And what’s more is, the longer the text is the more space is available for insertin…

I don't know, but I don't think SEO practices were that prevalent in 1997.

Re: Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? (1997)

#37

Post by jewillco »

schoen wrote: post #13
tomatocracy wrote: post #9

Something related which I've not been able to find the root of - in some older British mathematics textbooks, F=ma is written instead p=mf (and this is definitely p meaning force and f acceleration and not an equivalent formula in terms of impulse or similar). I would love to know why these letters were used.

The p is probably Latin potentia or French puissance, but I'm not sure about the f!

https://mathoverflow.net/a/23258 claims it is from Latin “festinatio.”

Re: Why is c the symbol for the speed of light? (1997)

#39

Post by ypeterholmes »

Levitz wrote: post #11

It is so, so refreshing to actually get an answer straight up instead of 6 paragraphs about the context, and how the author came to learn it, and what confusion might be, and how other constants have other names etc.

Yes. Although the beginning quote is immediately contradicted by the short answer. So that was confusing.
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