my_wan said:
How can a relative velocity not be the same in each case? If we are on separate meteors then whatever velocity I say you have is exactly the same velocity you say I have. There can be no difference. "Difference" by definition means to subtract, not add. "And" is not explicitly an addition or subtraction operator, it merely associates two terms for which an operator must be provided.
That is the point. They should be the same, but aren't.
Case 1
[itex]v_{i,c}=p_{f,c}/m= 10 \ m/s[/itex] Initial velocity of car
[itex]v_{f,c}=p_{f,c}/m= 0 \ m/s[/itex] Final velocity of car
[itex]v_{i,e}=p_{f,e}/M= 0 \ m/s[/itex] Initial velocity of Earth
[itex]v_{f,e}=p_{f,e}/M= 10^{-21} \ m/s[/itex] Final velocity of Earth
Obviously, when the car is at rest, the final velocities of car and Earth should be the same,
and -10e-21m/s, if the Car has accelerated the Earth in the opposite direction.
Total change for the car = 10m/s + 10e-21m/sCase 2;
[itex]v_{i,c}=p_{f,c}/m= 0\ m/s[/itex] Initial velocity of car
[itex]v_{f,c}=p_{f,c}/m= -10 \ m/s[/itex] Final velocity of car
[itex]v_{i,e}=p_{f,e}/M= -10m/s \ m/s[/itex] Initial velocity of Earth
[itex]v_{f,e}=p_{f,e}/M= -9.999999999999999999999 \ m/s[/itex] Final velocity of Earth
This makes no sense at all.