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Relativistic Bullet - perpendicular (Posted on 2005-01-17) Difficulty: 3 of 5
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?

See The Solution Submitted by Ken Haley    
Rating: 4.5000 (6 votes)

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
I think I have got itgaurav the great2005-07-09 15:41:21
re(2): Not so complicatedKen Haley2005-05-07 05:10:21
re: Not so complicatedMike2005-05-05 03:15:38
Some ThoughtsNot so complicatedMike2005-05-04 19:31:19
re: No SubjectKen Haley2005-05-02 05:42:41
Some ThoughtsNo Subjectnilshady2005-04-21 17:05:51
SolutionAnother (simpler) solutionJay Schamel2005-01-20 09:57:48
re: SolutionKen Haley2005-01-19 06:11:57
SolutionSolutionJay Schamel2005-01-18 08:59:28
Second thoughtsTomM2005-01-18 08:45:42
re(2): First thoughts.TomM2005-01-18 07:52:01
re: First thoughts.Ken Haley2005-01-18 05:33:58
Some ThoughtsFirst thoughts.TomM2005-01-18 01:20:30
Thoughtnp_rt2005-01-18 01:03:13
Hints/Tipshalf answerDanny2005-01-17 22:36:31
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