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Relative velocities between two particles in classical mechanics. The figure shows two objects A and B moving at constant velocity. The equations of motion are: = +, = +, where the subscript i refers to the initial displacement (at time t equal to zero).
where = and v is the relative velocity between two inertial frames. For two frames at rest, γ = 1, and increases with relative velocity between the two inertial frames. As the relative velocity approaches the speed of light, γ → ∞.
The special theory of relativity, formulated in 1905 by Albert Einstein, implies that addition of velocities does not behave in accordance with simple vector addition.. In relativistic physics, a velocity-addition formula is an equation that specifies how to combine the velocities of objects in a way that is consistent with the requirement that no object's speed can exceed the speed of light.
The relativistic energy–momentum equation holds for all particles, even for massless particles for which m 0 = 0. In this case: = When substituted into Ev = c 2 p, this gives v = c: massless particles (such as photons) always travel at the speed of light.
Its initial value is 1 (when v = 0); and as velocity approaches the speed of light (v → c) γ increases without bound (γ → ∞). α (Lorentz factor inverse) as a function of velocity—a circular arc. In the table below, the left-hand column shows speeds as different fractions of the speed of light (i.e. in units of c). The middle column ...
Speed is a scalar, being the magnitude of the velocity vector which in relativity is the four-velocity and in three-dimension Euclidean space a three-velocity. Speed is empirically measured as average speed, although current devices in common use can estimate speed over very small intervals and closely approximate instantaneous speed.
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various speed levels between approximately 2.2 × 10 −18 m/s and 3.0 × 10 8 m/s (the speed of light). Values in bold are exact.
The equations of motion are contained in the continuity equation of the stress–energy tensor: =, where is the covariant derivative. [5] For a perfect fluid, = (+) +. Here is the total mass-energy density (including both rest mass and internal energy density) of the fluid, is the fluid pressure, is the four-velocity of the fluid, and is the metric tensor. [2]