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In 1983 the metre was defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1 ⁄ 299 792 458 of a second", [94] fixing the value of the speed of light at 299 792 458 m/s by definition, as described below.
(The reason for the change was an improved method of measuring the speed of light.) The speed of light could then be expressed exactly as c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s, a standard also adopted by the IERS numerical standards. [19] From this definition and the 2009 IAU standard, the time for light to traverse an astronomical unit is found to be τ A ...
The speed of light in IAU is the defined value c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s of the SI units. In terms of this speed, the old definition of the astronomical unit of length had the accepted value: [ 3 ] 1 au = c 0 τ A = ( 149 597 870 700 ± 3 ) m, where τ A is the transit time of light across the astronomical unit.
It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum c to be 299 792 458 when expressed in the unit m s −1, where the second is defined in terms of ∆ν Cs." [1] 1 / 10 000 000 of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole measured on the meridian arc through Paris. L kilogram: kg mass
For example, the speed of light is defined as having the numerical value of 299 792 458 when expressed in the SI unit metres per second, and as having the numerical value of 1 when expressed in the natural units Planck length per Planck time. While its numerical value can be defined at will by the choice of units, the speed of light itself is a ...
A value of 9.460 536 207 × 10 15 m found in some modern sources [15] [16] is the product of a mean Gregorian year (365.2425 days or 31 556 952 s) and the defined speed of light (299 792 458 m/s). Another value, 9.460 528 405 × 10 15 m, [17] is the product of the J1900.0 mean tropical year and the defined speed of light.
The absolute refractive index n of an optical medium is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum, c = 299 792 458 m/s, and the phase velocity v of light in the medium, =. Since c is constant, n is inversely proportional to v : n ∝ 1 v . {\displaystyle n\propto {\frac {1}{v}}.}
The speed of light in vacuum is defined to be exactly 299 792 458 m/s (approximately 186,282 miles per second). The fixed value of the speed of light in SI units results from the fact that the metre is now defined in terms of the speed of light. All forms of electromagnetic radiation move at exactly this same speed in vacuum.