41–47 of 47 posts
> Weber apparently meant c to stand for "constant" in his force law, but there is evidence that physicists such as Lorentz and Einstein were accustomed to a common convention that c could be used as a variable for velocity. This usage can be traced back to the classic Latin texts in which c stood for "celeritas" meaning "speed". The uncommon English word "celerity" is still used when referring to the speed of wave pr…
I always remember c as the c onstant speed of light [in a vacuum], but never pondered the actual origin beyond the perhaps rudimentary algebra “x, y, z are variables and a, b, c are constants”. I don’t think I thought c came from “constant”, because that’s a very English-centric view of science, but the annoying thing about reading a smart article like this is that it’s impossible to explore the depths of how your mi…
I think it would have been 'k' if it stood for "constant" since most of them were German-speakers or collaborating with them.
> The same Latin root is found in more familiar words such as acceleration and even celebrity, a word used when fame comes quickly. According to the OED, celebrity comes from the Latin “celebritās, [the] state of being busy or crowded, festival, games or other celebration characterized by crowded conditions, reputation, renown, fame, frequency or commonness.” https://www.oed.com/dictionary/celebrity_n?tab=etymology#9…
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.
Right! Most articles I stumble upon nowadays is filled with everything besides the answer until I scroll to the bottom.
"When Sonia returned to her apartment on a warm, New York summer evening, little did she expect that ... "
> Weber apparently meant c to stand for "constant" in his force law, but there is evidence that physicists such as Lorentz and Einstein were accustomed to a common convention that c could be used as a variable for velocity. This usage can be traced back to the classic Latin texts in which c stood for "celeritas" meaning "speed". The uncommon English word "celerity" is still used when referring to the speed of wave pr…
Why do you say that?
> So history provides an ambiguous answer to the question ...
You provide an ambiguous answer, with no evidence (unless I misunderstand). That's not history.
In his research on light and optics, Fresnel used the letter "c" to represent the speed of light in his equations and formulas. The choice of "c" was likely influenced by the Latin word "celeritas" and its association with speed.