A spaceship,traveling at 0.100c away from a stationary space platform,launches a secondary rocket towards the station,with a speed of 0.560c relative to the spaceship.What is the speed of the secondary rocket relative to the space platform?
A)0.460c
B)0.487c
C)0.492c
D)0.660c

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To solve this problem, we need to use the relativistic velocity addition formula: 
v = (u + w)/(1 + uw/c^2)
where v is the relative velocity between the two objects, u is the velocity of the spaceship, w is the velocity of the secondary rocket relative to the spaceship, and c is the speed of light. 
Plugging in the given values, we get: 
v = (0.100c + 0.560c)/(1 + (0.100c)(0.560c)/c^2) 
v = 0.660c/(1 + 0.056) 
v = 0.487c 
So the speed of the secondary rocket relative to the space platform is 0.487c, which corresponds to choice B.

A Spaceship,traveling at 0