One of the most extraordinary things
about Einstein's energy-mass equation
is its simplicity. However, we still need to
make sure we are using the correct units
when solving the equation,
and that we understand the answer.
The purpose of this page is to solve
the equation as it is and give some idea of
the huge amount of energy locked up in even the
smallest amount of mass.
The Components of the Equation.If we break the equation E = mc2into its components and write out the terms fully we get:
We will now examine each of the terms in a little more detail.
Energy.
Energy is measured in joules (J).
How much energy is one joule?
Not very much really.
If you pick up a large apple and raise it
above your head you will have
used around one joule of energy in the process.
On the other hand we use up huge
amounts of energy every time we switch on a light.
A 100 watt light bulb uses 100 joules of energy every second,
i.e. one watt is one joule per second.
Mass.
Mass is a measure of a body's resistance to acceleration.
The greater the mass the greater the resistance to acceleration,
as anyone who has ever tried to push a heavy object knows.
For our purposes here, we can also think of mass as the
amount of matter in an object.
Mass is measured in kilograms (kg), 1 kg is
about the same as 2.2 pounds.
Note that we haven't said
what the mass is composed of.
In fact it could be anything. It doesn't matter
if we use iron, plastic, wood, rock or gravy.
The equation tells us that whatever the
mass is it can be turned
into energy
(whether it is practical to actually
do so is another matter and will be dealt with in later pages in this series).
The speed of light.
The speed of light is close to 186,300 miles per second
(300,000 km per second). In order to make the equation
"work" we need to convert these numbers into
units that are more suited to our purposes.
In physics, speeds are measured in metres
per second. This is usually abbreviated to ms-1;
that is "metres times seconds to the minus one".
Don't worry if you don't understand this notation.
We could equally write m/s but using ms-1
makes the mathematics easier in the long run. Likewise,
we could either say that the speed of light is
300,000,000 metres per second, or, as is
more usual, express the same figure in scientific notation: 3 x 108 ms-1.
Solving the Basic Equation.Now that we have everything in orderlet's have a go at solving the equation.
We will use a mass of
1kg to keep things simple and I will show all of the workings of the equation.
So, with 1kg of mass (around 2.2 pounds) we get:
Note how the units were dealt with and that
kg m2 s-2 is the same as joules
(a rigorous proof of this is outside the scope of these pages).
So from 1kg of matter, any matter,
we can get out 9 x 1016 joules of energy. Writing that out fully we get:
That is a lot of energy! For example,
if we converted 1 kg of mass into
energy and used it all to power a 100
watt light bulb how long could we keep it lit for?
The first thing to do is divide the result by watts
(remember that 1 watt is 1 joule per second):
How long is that in years?
A year (365.25 days) is 31,557,600 seconds,
so we get:
That is a very long time!
Of course,
converting mass into energy
is not quite that simple, and apart
from with some tiny particles in
experimental situations has never
been carried out with 100% efficiency. Perhaps that's just as well.
Conclusion.We have seen that the equation is very easy to solveas it is and that for even a small amount of
mass a huge amount of energy can, at least in theory,
be released. Other pages in this series show how the
energy can be released in practical ways
as well as using the equation in a more mathematical and physical way.
E = mc2
A huge amount of energy from a small amount of mass.
No. E=mc2 is a formula. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
There is no sum of e=mc2, it is an equation concerning matter and energy. e=mc2 stands for: Energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared. E = M C 2
The concept of E=MC2 was discovered by Henri Poincare.
mass
E=m*c2
E (Energy) equals M (Mass) times C2 (speed of light square)
No. E=mc2 is a formula. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
Energy.
There is no sum of e=mc2, it is an equation concerning matter and energy. e=mc2 stands for: Energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared. E = M C 2
The concept of E=MC2 was discovered by Henri Poincare.
no.
yes it is.
mass
E=m*c2
e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc 2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2 e=mc2
it means e = MC2 which is M x c x 2
The formula is E=mc2.