This pivotal equation connects energy to mass via the speed of light.
The famous equation E=mc^2, derived by Einstein, means that energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. Equivalently, it also means that any amount of mass is equal to energy divided by the speed of light squared. This little equation is central to the theory of special relativity, and also explains how nuclear fusion and fission can generate energy.
But it also would be possible to simply define the speed of light as equal to … 1. Just 1. No miles, no seconds, no fortnights, no leagues. Just … 1. Physics allows this because it's just a number, and we're picking a system where speed has no units. In this system, a jet airliner cruises at a snail's pace of 0.000001, or 0.0001% the speed of light. Two of the fastest human-made objects, the Helios probes, zoomed around the solar system at a whopping 0.
The confusion comes from the m used in E=m. People normally think of mass as something concrete and simple. Hold a rock; it has mass. Throw it, and it has mass and momentum. But that's not the m in E=m. Instead, when Einstein wrote down that equation, he meant something different, usually referred to as relativistic mass.
And the closer you get to the speed of light, the less effective each shove will be: The first one may get you to 0.9, then the second to 0.99, then 0.999, then 0.9999. In fact, it's as if you were getting more massive. That's exactly what more mass means: You get harder to push. Why is E=mc^2 true?One way to think about this relationship is to consider that stationary objects are still moving — in time, that is. A rock, for example,may be perfectly still. But it's still moving into the future, at the rate of 1 second per second. The same is true for every other object in the universe.
Why is E=mc^2 important?Mass is a kind of energy. But energy acts like mass. So what's the deal? Are we just talking in circles?
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