"'Total delta v of about two and a half c, Newtonian regime. Customarily, during the war, they'd boost to one-half c...they'd strike and return with the extra half light-speed available for high-powered maneuvers in between.'"
(Man-Kzin Wars III, pp. 220-221)
How much does the layman understand?
v is velocity;
c is light speed;
v for material bodies has to be lower than c in relativistic space;
however, higher values of c can exist in mathematics, e.g., e = mc2;
so, if delta v can be two and a half c, then what is delta v?;
we can google but cannot understand the Wiki article which, at a superficial glance, does not seem to explain delta v's higher than c.
I am not about to pursue this issue further. However, Anderson fans with scientific training might be able to help.
Delta v means change of velocity; a rocket can carry an amount of fuel sufficient to achieve a certain change in velocity. Short of an FTL drive which for now remains fictional, a spacecraft cannot travel faster than light. These fictional, although still STL ships apparently carry enough fuel for a total change in velocity of two and a half times the speed of light, c. That is, the ship can accelerate to half of c, then decelerate down again, use up to half c's worth of delta v in maneuvers, then, in order to return to its base, accelerate up to half of c, and decelerate down again.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps
Best Regqrds,
Nicholas D. Rosen, B.A. in Physics, M.S. and Ph.D. In Materials
Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteThank you. Very helpful. You can understand my puzzlement at a "delta v" apparently higher than c but you have explained it as a simple addition of velocities used at different stages of the journey.
Paul.
Thank you for your kind words.
DeleteBest Regards,
Nicholas