Variable speed of light Variable speed of light A variable speed of light (VSL) is a feature of a family of hypotheses stating that the speed of light in vacuum, usually denoted by "c", may in some way not be constant, e.g. varying in space or time, or depending on frequency. A variable speed of light occurs in some situations of classical physics as equivalent formulations of accepted theories, but also in various alternative theories of gravitation and cosmology, many of them non-mainstream. Notable attempts to incorporate a variable speed of light into physics have been made by Einstein in 1911, by Robert Dicke
Speed of light rotation, the speed of light can be calculated. The method of Foucault replaces the cogwheel by a rotating mirror. Because the mirror keeps rotating while the light travels to the distant mirror and back, the light is reflected from the rotating mirror at a different angle on its way out than it is on its way back. From this difference in angle, the known speed of rotation and the distance to the distant mirror the speed of light may be calculated. Nowadays, using oscilloscopes with time resolutions of less than one nanosecond, the speed of light can be directly measured