How to show that show that v + u </mrow> 1 + u

Kendall Oneill

Kendall Oneill

Answered question

2022-05-15

How to show that show that v + u 1 + u v / c 2 = c when u = c?
Context
It's needed for a physics proof that I'm working on. This is the formula for relative velocity, u represents the velocity of the observer, v represents the velocity of a projectile and c represents the speed of light.
Einstein said that this is right, so I'm sure that it is I'm just not sure how it simplifies.

Answer & Explanation

Charlie Powers

Charlie Powers

Beginner2022-05-16Added 13 answers

If you mean
u + v 1 + u v c 2
as noted in the comments. Then let u = c and we get
u + v 1 + u v c 2 = c + v 1 + c v c 2 = c + v 1 + v c = c + v 1 + v c c c = c ( c + v ) c + v = c .
Marco Villanueva

Marco Villanueva

Beginner2022-05-17Added 6 answers

Lets plut in u = c
u + v 1 + u v u 2 = u
0 = v 1 + v u = v u + v u
0 = u v u + v
u = 0 or v = 0 so that is what you can do algebraically, but from the point of view of physics you should tell us what all those variables stand for.

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