Relativistic speed refers to speed at which relativistic effects become significant to the desired accuracy of measurement of the phenomenon being observed. Relativistic effects are those discrepancies between values calculated by models considering and not considering relativity. Related words are

velocity Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...

rapidity In special relativity, the classical concept of velocity is converted to rapidity to accommodate the limit determined by the speed of light. Velocities must be combined by Einstein's velocity-addition formula. For low speeds, rapidity and velo ...

, and celerity which is proper velocity.

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

is a scalar, being the magnitude of the velocity

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

which in relativity is the four-velocity and in three-dimension Euclidean space a three-velocity. Speed is

empirically In philosophy, empiricism is an Epistemology, epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from Sense, sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within ...

measured as average speed, although current devices in common use can estimate speed over very small intervals and closely approximate instantaneous speed. Non-relativistic discrepancies include

cosine error Cosine error is a type of measurement error caused by the difference between the intended and actual directions in which a measurement is taken. Depending on the type of measurement, it either multiplies or divides the true value by the cosine of ...

which occurs in speed detection devices when only one scalar component of the three-velocity is measured and the

Doppler effect The Doppler effect (also Doppler shift) is the change in the frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the source of the wave. The ''Doppler effect'' is named after the physicist Christian Doppler, who described ...

which may affect observations of wavelength and frequency. Lorentz_factor

Relativistic effects are highly

non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...

and for everyday purposes are insignificant because the Newtonian model closely approximates the relativity model. In special relativity the

Lorentz factor The Lorentz factor or Lorentz term (also known as the gamma factor) is a dimensionless quantity expressing how much the measurements of time, length, and other physical properties change for an object while it moves. The expression appears in sev ...

is a measure of

time dilation Time dilation is the difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks, either because of a relative velocity between them (special relativity), or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations (general relativity). When unsp ...

length contraction Length contraction is the phenomenon that a moving object's length is measured to be shorter than its proper length, which is the length as measured in the object's own rest frame. It is also known as Lorentz contraction or Lorentz–FitzGerald ...

and the relativistic

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

increase of a moving object.

References

Velocity {{relativity-stub

See also

References