Tagged Questions

4
votes
1answer
81 views

Mass-energy equivalence and Newton's Second Law of motion

According to Einstein's Mass-energy equivalence, $ E = mc^2$ OR $ m = \frac E{c^2}$..... (1) and According to Newton's Second Law of motion, $ F = ma$ OR $m = \frac Fa$ ..... (2) If we compare eq. ...
5
votes
4answers
228 views

Can you create mass with $E=mc^2$?

If you use the equation $E=mc^2$ could you make matter by dividing the $c^2$? I'm sorry if this is a really stupid sounding question or if it shouldn't be asked here.
1
vote
1answer
99 views

Is light affect by gravity? Why?

I would like to know if light is affected by gravity, also, I would like to know what is the more correct for the definition of gravity: A force that attracts bodies with mass or force that attracts ...
1
vote
1answer
103 views

Does gravitational force attract bodies with mass or with energy?

On my textbook is written that gravitational force is the force that attracts bodies with mass. But I've seen on a book that It actually attracts bodies with energy. I'm having a class tomorrow and I ...
2
votes
4answers
496 views

Relationship between mass, energy, and a force?

I've never truly understood the relationship between mass, energy, and force. I know what each of the three are, I just don't fully understand how they interact with each other. For example, How ...
5
votes
1answer
146 views

Impulse from absorbing a photon? Is there an increase in rest mass?

I'm going through A P French's special relativity. In one chapter (6) the following is set up: Suppose that a stationary particle of mass $M_0$ is struck by a photon of energy $Q$, which is ...
2
votes
4answers
176 views

The building blocks of energy

I have a couple of related questions that have been bothering me for a while. They might sound unscientific, but here is goes: What are the building blocks of energy? What does energy consist of? Is ...
10
votes
2answers
288 views

How does rest mass become energy?

I know that there's a difference between relativistic rest mass. Relativistic mass is "acquired" when an object is moving at speeds comparable to the speed of light.Rest mass is the inherent mass that ...
0
votes
4answers
218 views

Mass-Energy relation

Einstein mass- energy relation states $E=mc^2$. It means if energy of a paricle increases then mass also increases or vice-versa. My question is that what is the actual meaning of the statement ...
3
votes
3answers
609 views

Is there a finite amount of mass in the universe?

So, I'm not too physics savvy but I am curious to ask. Is there a finite amount of mass in the universe? or is there more and more being created from somewhere or something? If the universe is ...
5
votes
2answers
163 views

Why would a particle in an extra dimension appear not as one particle, but a set of particles?

I was reading an article in this months issue of Physics World magazine on the three main theories of extra dimensions and stumbled across something I didn't quite understand when the author began ...
0
votes
0answers
37 views

What gives photons their energy? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Does $E = mc^2$ apply to photons? I've been to a presentation by a CERN scientist, and he briefly talked about photons. It was stated that photons have different energy ...
0
votes
2answers
206 views

Does the potential energy related to a particle determines its rest mass?

Would it be possible to determine the rest mass of a particle by computing the potential energy related to the presence (existence) of the particle, if this potential energy could be determined ...
-1
votes
3answers
473 views

Relation between Newtons and Kilograms

Work is expressed as W=F*d, where the F is in Newton, d is in meters and result ...
26
votes
7answers
3k views

Is a hard drive heavier when it is full?

Browsing Quora, I saw the following question with contradicting answers. For the highest voted answer: The bits are represented by certain orientations of magnetic fields which shouldn't have ...
1
vote
3answers
108 views

Carrying water on person, or on the frame when bicycling

So, the question is as follows: What is the difference in work exerted by the rider in the two following scenarios? a) Rider + bike. Water carried in a holder on the frame b) Rider + bike. Water ...
2
votes
2answers
186 views

Which new insight did $E=mc^2$ give us?

I had a special relativity course at university. Now I'm trying to extract what new insight $E=mc^2$ did give us. I mean that moving mass has/is energy (kinetic) not new. The energy merely changed ...
2
votes
2answers
613 views

Are neutrinos affected by gravity?

Layman here, but EE and BS physics. I know that light is affected by gravity. But are neutrinos? During the collapse of a star into a neutron star, as the electrons join protons to form neutrons ...
2
votes
1answer
187 views

What is meant by the rest energy of non-composite particle?

When talking about the rest energy of a composite particle such as a proton, part of the rest energy is accounted for by the internal kinetic energy of its constituent quarks. But what is physically ...
3
votes
3answers
285 views

storing energy (as mass)

When chemical energy is released mass is reduced, if only by a negligible amount. Presumably that's true for all energy. And presumably that works in reverse as well: storing energy involves an ...
1
vote
1answer
433 views

Is the curvature of space around mass independent of gravity?

Is the curvature of space caused by the local density of the energy in that area?Could gravity be a separate phenomenon only arising from the curvature of space? For instance if the density of energy ...
4
votes
1answer
149 views

Is there a theory which treats particles as classical point singularities?

Is there a published theory that looks at all matter as occupying no space and only being felt because of its gravitational pull? We've been taught in school that matter has mass and occupies space. ...
0
votes
0answers
83 views

Masses of all the particles in the Standard Theory [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: If photons have no mass, how can they have momentum? I'm sure this question has been asked here before but I wasn't able to find it clearly answered in one q/a session. ...
2
votes
6answers
2k views

What is Energy made of?

We have the famous equation $E = mc^2$, and we also believe that matter is made of particles. Then, What is the energy made of? If the two are interchangeable, there must be some common building ...
2
votes
2answers
336 views

Mass in terms of energy

Given the relationships between mass and energy in relativity, and given that particles with mass can be created given energy over the threshold energy, and vice-versa, can we say that mass is simply ...
8
votes
2answers
705 views

Does $E = mc^2$ apply to photons?

Photons are massless, but if $m = 0$ and $E = mc^2$ then $E = 0c^2 = 0$. This would say that photons have no energy, which is not true. However, given the formula $E = ℎf$, a photon does have energy ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views

What is the symmetry which is responsible for conservation of mass?

According to Noether's theorem, all conservation laws originate from invariance of a system to shifts in a certain space. For example conservation of energy stems from invariance to time translation. ...
23
votes
8answers
13k views

If photons have no mass, how can they have momentum?

As an explanation of why a large gravitational field (such as a black hole) can bend light, I have heard that light has momentum. This is given as a solution to the problem of only massive objects ...
6
votes
2answers
186 views

Why did this glass start popping?

I remember a while ago my father dropped a glass lid and it smashed. It looked something like this. When that happened, for about 5 minutes afterwards, the glass parts were splitting, kind of like ...
19
votes
5answers
2k views

Do photons gain mass when they travel through glass?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that photons slow down when travelling through glass. Does this mean they gain mass? Otherwise, what happens to extra kinetic energy? I understand now ...