Relative Velocity

• Velocity, like displacement, is a vector. Therefore, if one must add velocities, one must use vector arithmetic.
• At very high speeds, close to the speed of light (300,000 km/sec), ordinary vector arithmetic fails -- but it works just fine in everyday situations.
• The key is understanding the frame of reference (or point of view) relative to which some object's velocity is measured.

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Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.