Hi,
I'm trying to understand a few fundamental scientific principles and I have a problem:
If nothing can apparently travel faster than the speed of light relative to another object, how do you explain the following:
2 particles (for arguments sake let's say Muons) start off adjacent to each other. An event occurs which causes them both to separate from each other, each travelling in opposite directions at almost the speed of light.
Mathematically, relative to Muon A, Muon B would surely be travelling at almost twice the speed of light. Is this possible? I was under the impression that "nothing could travel faster than the speed of light"
I understand that an observer on Muon A would see Muon B travelling away from him at the speed of light. However is this not just an optical illusion due to the speed which light travels and the medium through which the said observer chooses to obtain information?
In an experiment, lets say you fired the two muons in opposite directions down a long tunnel. You place lasers or some sort of detector at regular intervals within the tunnel. Each detector has it's own internal clock and are therefore able to calculate the speed at which each Muon is travelling. Say a computer is linked to all the detectors and after the experiment the computer produces a report on the relative speeds.
In relative terms, surely the computer would say that Muon A travelled at almost twice the speed of light away from Muon B or visa versa.
What is wrong with nominating the computer as the observer and Muon A and Muon B as the two subjects.