Suppose you're traveling on a space ship at 9/10 the speed of light (.9c). You have a high-powered rifle that shoots bullets at the same speed. Suppose you shoot the bullet perpendicular to your direction of travel.

It appears that the bullet would travel at a 45-degree angle (northeast, if the ship is traveling north and the bullet is shot eastward), at about 1.2728c which is faster than light. Why is this wrong, and what would the actual speed and direction be?

(In reply to re: Not so complicated by Mike)

Well, Mike, I don't quite understand your comments, but if you get a book on Special Relativity (or look up the topic on the net), and study carefully, you should get an idea about what problems like this are all about.

Posted by Ken Haley on 2005-05-07 05:10:21