Question

Galileo performed an experiment to measure the speed of light by timing how long it took light to travel from a lamp he was holding to an assistant about 1.5 km away and back again. Why was Galileo unable to conclude that light had a finite speed?

Answer 1

Answer:

The time it takes light to cover 1.5 km was too short to be measured by Galileo's instruments.

Explanation:

The speed of light is $c=3*10^8m/s$, which means the time it takes to cover a distance of 1.5 km (or 1,500m) will be

$t= \dfrac{1500m}{3*10^8m/s}$

$t= 0.000005s$

which is $\dfrac{1}{200000}$ of a second! This time delay could in no way be measured by Galileo considering the fact that he was using his heartbeat to measure time!