Is it ture that max speed... [Archive]

expscv

Aug11-04, 07:00 AM

i was curious ,

is it ture that nothing can exceeds the speed of light, such all object (except photon) max speed is "speed of light" ?

2. if both object travel close to light of speed, but in oppsite direction

so realvtive to object 1, is object 2 travel at double of "speed of light"??

HallsofIvy

Aug11-04, 08:14 AM

Yes, it is true that no material object (with non-zero rest mass) can travel at (or faster than) the speed of light.

If two objects are moving with, say, 0.99c (99% of the speed of light) relative to some third object (every speed has to be relative to something) going in opposite directions then the speed of each one, relative to the other, is (0.99c+ 0.99c)/(1+ (.99c)(.99c)/c2)= 1.98c/(1.9801)= 0.9999c.

Gonzolo

Aug11-04, 08:56 AM

The formula HallsofIvy used is from Einstein's Special Relativity, which is the theory we must use to deal with such speeds.

Nenad

Aug11-04, 03:44 PM

Here is the full formula in case you wanted to know:

u' = \frac {v+u}{1 + \frac{vu}{c^2}}

whydoyouwanttoknow

Aug11-04, 11:36 PM

All particles with a rest mass greater than 0 travel at below the speed of light.
Particles with 0 rest mass only travel at light speed.
Particles with less than 0 rest mass should, if they exist, travel at only greater than light speed.

expscv

Aug12-04, 07:22 AM

All particles with a rest mass greater than 0 travel at below the speed of light.
Particles with 0 rest mass only travel at light speed.
Particles with less than 0 rest mass should, if they exist, travel at only greater than light speed.

oh? so photon is equal to 0 rest mass?

becasue it can travel exactly at speed of light?

whydoyouwanttoknow

Aug12-04, 08:31 AM

oh? so photon is equal to 0 rest mass?

becasue it can travel exactly at speed of light?

Yeah, photons have no mass.

Mk

Aug17-04, 04:30 AM

oh? so photon is equal to 0 rest mass?

becasue it can travel exactly at speed of light?

not exactly, *ahem*

A photon can travel at the speed of light because it has zero rest mass

Gonzolo

Aug17-04, 01:46 PM

Are you sure there is "causality" here? c speed and 0 mass are pretty much hand in hand IMO. I would say either way to say it is good.