If a man was on a train traveling

[Iraqi_guy]

100 miles per hour....and he got up and walked 1 mile per hour in the direction the train was traveling...would that man be moving at a velocity of 101 miles per hour?

How 5 people haven't yet rated this post is now beyond me.
Especially with this reminder here:
Don't forget to Rate this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[derrald]

1. ack! relative velocities!

in relation to a certain fixed point, he would. But, in relation to the train, he'd be moving 1 mile an hour.

Technically, in relation to the sun, we're all traveling at some ungodly thousands of miles an hour.

[Iraqi_guy]

4. so

the answer is yes?

[Darranar]

14. No...

the answer is either "yes" or "no," depending on the position of the observer.

[Iraqi_guy]

15. no

I'm assuming its the speed relative to someone sitting on the ground watching the train go by. i already gave the speed relative to someone sitting on the train.

[Darranar]

16. In that case...

Yes.

[Iraqi_guy]

18. exactly

.

[Iraqi_guy]

2. Statistically,

14 of you look at this without rating it...
Why?

Actually wait....please answer my first question first....

[DS1]

5. yeah, it can be very frustrating

one time I hosted a public domain mp3, that got downloaded 3,000 times, and a whopping 12 bothered to at least say something about it.

[DS1]

3. relative to the earth excluding rotation

yes, I believe his speed would be 101.

[northzax]

6. yes

compared to something.

the thing that will really twist your brain is this:

imagine the same train. One man sits still, the other walks forward. If they are both wearing headlamps, then is the light from the walking man moving faster than the sitting man's light?

[DS1]

9. there would be mostly undetectable, but still valid

red shift effect.

[Dudley_DUright]

17. Almost true

You are thinking of special relativity where relativistic addition of velocities applies. It is always true as you point out, but for velocities much less than c (speed of light), it reduces to the familiar Galilean relatively of grade school story problems. See the following link for more details (including an example of a person walking on a train, LOL).

http://landau1.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109/lectures/adding_vels.html

Red shift,on the other hand, occurs if a light source is moving away from an observer at a substantial fraction of c.

[DS1]

21. doh, yeah, I totally jumped to that conclusion

the light is completely independent of the train, the walker is on the one in direct contact

[ForrestGump]

12. Yes, it moves faster than the speed of light

Einstein forgot to carry the 2.....

[Darranar]

19. The light is moving at the same speed....

The position from which the light moves is changing.

[Iraqi_guy]

20. ahhhh

nice.....very nice oberservation.

[JVS]

7. No

Here it is Read this:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_095.html

W= (u + v)/(1 + uv/c^2)

W is final velocity, u and v are the velocities being added and c is the speed of light.

[Submariner]

8. If you really want to break a speed record

When the jet is at altitude and cruising at max speed, sprint as fast as you can from the rear section towards the cockpit and time yourself. Let us know how you make out if you try this. :)

[DS1]

11. that's mean

although make sure you scream so you teach everyone about the doppler effect

[Iraqi_guy]

13. yes

because I have a jet sitting around not being used.

[ForrestGump]

10. Depends if the train driver is on drugs or not, doesn't it?

[SOteric]

24. You got a lot

of detention in Math class, didn't you?

[On the Road]

22. Answer: Yes

101 MPH. Taking into account, of course, the minor effects of relativity.

[baldguy]

23. Yes.

But he's moving 101 mph reletive to a stationary observer, only if he is moving 1 mph in relation to an observer on the train.

If he is moving 1 mph in relation to the stationary observer, then to the observer on the train HE'S MOVING AT 99 MPH TOWARD THE BACK OF THE TRAIN!

Relitivity is trippy.

[Throckmorton]

25. You said Velocity, not Speed

So you can solve this problem with vector addition.