Proper velocity addition formula: where formula_3 is the beta factor given by formula_4. or in terms of logarithms: Proper velocity is useful for comparing the speed of objects with momentum per unit rest mass ("w") greater than lightspeed "c". The coordinate speed of such objects is generally near lightspeed, whereas proper velocity tells us how rapidly they are covering ground on "traveling-object clocks". This is important for example if, like some cosmic ray particles, the traveling objects have a finite lifetime. Proper velocity also clues us in to the object's momentum, which has no upper bound. For example, a 45 GeV electron
Thermal velocity Boltzmann constant, formula_2 is the temperature, and formula_3 is the mass of a particle, then we can write the different thermal velocities: If formula_4 is defined as the root mean square of the velocity in any one dimension (i.e. any single direction), then If formula_4 is defined as the mean of the magnitude of the velocity in any one dimension (i.e. any single direction), then If formula_4 is defined as the most probable speed, then If formula_4 is defined as the root mean square of the total velocity (in three dimensions), then If formula_4 is defined as the mean of