Proper velocity Proper velocity In relativity, proper velocity, also known as celerity, is an alternative to velocity for measuring motion. Whereas velocity relative to an observer is distance per unit time where both distance and time are measured by the observer, proper velocity relative to an observer divides observer-measured distance by the time elapsed on the clocks of the traveling object. Proper velocity equals velocity at low speeds. Proper velocity at high speeds, moreover, retains many of the properties that velocity loses in relativity compared with Newtonian theory. For example, proper velocity equals momentum per unit mass at any speed, and therefore
Mass in special relativity Mass in special relativity Mass in special relativity incorporates the general understandings from the laws of motion of special relativity along with its concept of mass–energy equivalence. The word "mass" is given two meanings in special relativity: one ("rest" or "invariant mass", and its equivalent "rest energy") is an invariant quantity which is the same for all observers in all reference frames; the other ("relativistic mass" or the equivalent "total energy" of the body) is dependent on the velocity of the observer. The term "relativistic mass" tends not to be used in particle and nuclear physics and is often avoided