suppose two rockets with a passenger are nearing speed of light velocities and are going opposite directions. Relative to eachother one rocket will seem stationary while the other rocket will look like it’s going almost twice the speed of light. What do both passengers see?

Question

I can’t wrap my head around it. But maybe it might be a very silly question with a simple answer.

In: Physics

Answer 1

You have learnt that you can arrive at a combined speed between two parties by adding their speeds together. That is a *simplified* formula that is approximately correct at low speeds, certainly any speeds you will encounter in your lifetime.

There is a more complex formula for combining speeds that are close to the speed of light that is more correct and you’ll never get a nonsense result such as “twice the speed of light” when using that formula. There’s no reason to believe that your everyday experience is a good yardstick by which to measure high-speed interactions.