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Also, If you are traveling 1 mph under the speed of light on a train and throw a baseball in front of you at 20mph what would a viewer outside the train see?

Qmechanic
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eli
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1 Answers1

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The observer standing by the tracks would observe that the baseball is travelling faster than the train, but less than the speed of light.

There is an equation for the addition of velocities: see See http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/relativ/einvel.html

Peter Diehr
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  • So for the observer the ball would slow in time relative to to the observer, correct? – eli Mar 06 '16 at 04:25
  • If the ball is a clock, yes it would be seen to run slow; a bit slower than the wristwatch of the one who threw it. – Peter Diehr Mar 06 '16 at 04:30
  • That is very interesting – eli Mar 06 '16 at 04:40
  • Why is their a cap at the speed of light? – eli Mar 06 '16 at 05:30
  • @eli: there are two logical choices: (1) no universal speed limit, or (2) there is a speed limit. Special Relativity depends on (2). What would the cosmos look like under (1)? You would see things when they happen, no matter how far away; and signalling would be instantaneous. IIRC, this means you could build noncausal devices. So the speed limit is tied to a causal universe. – Peter Diehr Mar 06 '16 at 11:47