The property of an object that determines how much it responds to a force in Newtonian mechanics, and how much it interacts with gravity in the Newtonian framework. Mass also refers to the intrinsic energy of a particle in particle physics.
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Complex masses for Dirac and Weyl spinors
I'm trying understand how to rotate Dirac fields to absorb complex phases in masses. I have a few related questions:
With Weyl spinors, I understand, $$ \mathcal{L} = \text{kinetic} +
...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
Finding the force of an object? [closed]
Sorry if my initial question was seen as a "homework question" but I don't really know how to go about asking this type of question. I have a feeling I have to use Newtons law but there is no ...
2
votes
1answer
105 views
Doubts about the definition of mass
I'm having some problems understanding what are the possible definitons of mass and how they are related to each other.
In Classical Mechanics, we can distinguish between inertial and gravitational ...
4
votes
1answer
104 views
Mass gap for photons
I am puzzled by the answers to the question:
What is a mass gap?
There, Ron Maimon's answer gives a clear-cut definition, which I suppose applies to any quantum field theory with Hamiltonian $H$, ...
-5
votes
1answer
56 views
Does the magnitude of a mass affect the velocity?
Imagine that I shrink my entire mass to fit within the volume of a light particle. If I was then 'hit' by another light particle would my greater mass affect my gain in velocity from this collision ...
4
votes
3answers
108 views
Moment of Inertia (triangular plate)
I want to generalize the formula for the MOI of a triangular plate (sides $a,b,c$) about an axis passing through mid point of one sides and perpendicular to it's plane .
The mass of plate $M$ is ...
4
votes
3answers
118 views
Precision of Coulomb's law
Up to which precision has the coulomb law proven to be true?
I.e. if you have two electrons in a vacuum chamber, 5 meters appart, have the third order terms been ruled out? Are there any theoretical ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
Does inertia increase with speed?
I have heard that when the speed of the object increase, the mass of the object also increase. (Why does an object with higher speed gain more (relativistic) mass?)
So inertia which is related to ...
-4
votes
1answer
48 views
Center of mass of three particles of masses 1kg, 2kg, 3kg lies at the point (1,2,3) [closed]
Center of mass of three particles of masses 1kg, 2kg, 3kg lies at the point (1,2,3) and center of mass of another system of particles 3kg and 2kg lies at the point (-1,3,-2).
Where should we put a ...
-4
votes
0answers
50 views
Why does an object with higher velocity gain more mass? [closed]
if we inject pure energy into a object capable of moving will it affect the structure of its atoms creating bigger neutrons, electrons and protons making the object increase its size affecting its ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Defining the star as the ellipse focus rather than the barycenter, what does the other focus do? [duplicate]
There are a lot of images and animations on the internet depicting two bodies orbiting around their common barycenter. The barycenter is defined as the (let's say right) focus of the ellipse.
If we ...
0
votes
3answers
79 views
Mass in special relativity
I have just got a query about how this equation works if its right.
We have Newtonian Physics saying $F=ma$,
According to the 'Mass in special relativity' the mass changes according to
$$m= ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Why does Lorentz factor not hold for relativistic mass when we apply it to photons? [duplicate]
We know that the photon itself is massless particle $m_0=0$. But we also know, that the mass of the objects does increase with their energy. And we know that under certain circumstances (gravity, ...
10
votes
2answers
286 views
Does relativistic mass have weight?
If an object was sliding on an infinitely long friction-less floor on Earth with relativistic speeds (ignoring air resistance), would it exert more vertical weight force on the floor than when it's at ...
5
votes
3answers
109 views
Is it possible to have a singularity with zero mass?
A singularity, by the definition I know, is a point in space with infinite of a property such as density.
Density is Mass/Volume.
Since the volume of a singularity is 0, then the density will thus ...
-1
votes
1answer
81 views
Is the speed of light related to the mass of the universe?
If the mass of the universe were cut in half, would it affect the speed of light?
Would it be twice as fast?
Would it stay the same?
Do we have instruments that are sensitive enough to measure the ...
1
vote
2answers
89 views
Do photons have mass? [duplicate]
As a student in a highschool physics class, my teacher has repeatedly told me that photons are massless. Yet, I have also heard from other sources that photons have momentum. If photons were to have ...
-1
votes
0answers
24 views
if greater mass equates to greater force, a heavier perso would have more force potential than a skinnier one? [closed]
In physics laws greater mass is usually associated with greater force, such as dropping a bowling ball on your feet and dropping a gum ball. The bowling ball has more atoms, and is solid metal, so no ...
-3
votes
0answers
23 views
Does ability to lift more weight mean more physical strength? [closed]
so I thought this question is physics-related, so why not elaborate here.
Muscular strength can be combined not just by muscle mass but density, neuromuscular conditioning, joints, leverage, etc.
So ...
8
votes
1answer
156 views
How the inverse square law in electrodynamics is related to photon mass?
I have read somewhere that one of the tests of the inverse square law is to assume nonzero mass for photon and then, by finding a maximum limit for it , determine a maximum possible error in ...
0
votes
1answer
38 views
Period of oscilation [duplicate]
Two masses $m_1$ and $m_2$ are connected by a spring of spring constant $k$ and slide freely without friction along horizontal track. What is period of oscillation? No force influence.
2
votes
2answers
49 views
Can the effects of a person's mass upon the local gravitational field be detected and measured remotely?
As the title suggests, Can the effects of a person's mass upon the local gravitational field be detected and measured remotely?
I am aware any mass produces and effects gravity but couldn't find ...
-1
votes
1answer
40 views
Mass of a jumper, given height jumped and force exerted [closed]
This is the question:
An exceptional vertical jump from rest would raise a person 0.83m off
the ground. To do this, a constant force of 2593N would need to be
exerted against the ground. ...
0
votes
2answers
98 views
What is the mass of a photon moving at the speed of light? [duplicate]
What is the mass of a photon moving at the speed of light?
And if it does not have mass, how is it affected by gravity?
Also why does Einstein's general relativity support that a gravitational wave ...
4
votes
1answer
86 views
How did Newton find out force has something to do with acceleration?
Its about Newton's second law of motion,
$$F=ma.$$
It says the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force and is inversely proportional to the object's mass. Yes I can ...
0
votes
3answers
77 views
Mass equals Moment of inertia when constant density?
I have found equation for moment of inertia $(J)$. I'm calculating $J$ for hemisphere, with rotational axis $Z$.
$$ J = \iiint\limits_V r^2 \cdot \rho \cdot dV $$
But if $\rho$ is constant ...
1
vote
3answers
148 views
What truly is mass, and is there a direct way to measure it?
We know a mass of an object of one kilogram as an object that weighs W = mg = 9.8 N and we reference it to that, (when it should as a fundamental parameter describe weight not the opposite). But if we ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
A sphere, a simple object?
In this video, the woman says that a sphere is a pretty simple object. What intrigues me is the use of a sphere for such a calculation. First of all, the sphere wouldn't be perfect as a perfect sphere ...
-1
votes
1answer
61 views
How do we know that light is massless? [duplicate]
Almost everybody knows that light is massless. But where this come from and how it can be proven (experimentally or theoretically)? I actually found this article which explains and calculates the mass ...
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. ...
-3
votes
3answers
219 views
Does a photon have mass? [duplicate]
I have seen questions assume photons have no mass. But I have not seen any questions that directly ask whether or not photons have mass.
If photons have no mass, then how do they occupy space? How ...
2
votes
4answers
125 views
Does everything with mass or energy have a gravitational pull?
As small as it may be, does every 'thing' have a gravitational pull? That is, something with mass or energy. No matter how obsolete or negligible it may be, is it there? If so, how is it calculated? ...
1
vote
1answer
295 views
Archimedes principle and specific gravity
A physical balance measures the gravitational mass of a body. I conducted an experiment to find out the specific gravity of a bob. I first measured the mass of the bob in air, and then in water. The ...
6
votes
1answer
74 views
Higgs boson mass and electroweak energy scale
Is it a coincidence that the mass of the Higgs boson is exactly half the electroweak energy scale?
0
votes
2answers
37 views
Why does the inertial mass of an object rise when a force is exerted on it in a particle accelerator? [closed]
A particle in a cyclotron requires more and more force to maintain the same acceleration as it accelerates.
4
votes
1answer
97 views
Soft Mass and Physical Mass in Softly-broken SUSY
In softly broken SUSY, the bare mass parameters may be specified at e.g. the GUT scale, and then we can run these down to another scale using RGEs, similar in form to the RGEs for gauge couplings, ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Law of conservation of matter
If scientist have made small particles of matter then why do we still haw the law of conservation of matter? Is it because the few particles don't make a noticeable difference in our life?
2
votes
2answers
123 views
Have negative pressures any physical meaning?
Some cubic thermodynamical equations of state predict negative pressures, have negative pressures any physical meaning? Could they be related to negative mass?
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.
3
votes
2answers
91 views
Gravitational distortion of an object's diameter, at a distance,
Does the curvature of space-time cause objects to look smaller than they really are? What is the relationship between the optical distortion and the mass of the objects?
0
votes
0answers
24 views
Why photons can't escape black hole? [duplicate]
Photons do not have (rest) mass. Then why are they attracted by the black hole? And is it possible that a photon crossing a black hole from a little distance could get accelerated due to the force?
11
votes
3answers
481 views
The interpretation of mass in quantum field theories
Consider a free theory with one real scalar field:
$$
\mathcal{L}:=-\frac{1}{2}\partial _\mu \phi \partial ^\mu \phi -\frac{1}{2}m^2\phi ^2.
$$
We write this positive coefficient in front of $\phi ^2$ ...
0
votes
0answers
47 views
What causes the mass of Higgs boson itself? [duplicate]
Current theories stipulate that particles mass is due to :
Quantum chromodynamics (mutual attraction of quarks, i.e. gluon's kinetic energy, circa 98%) and Higgs field (quarks rest mass, circa 2%) ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Sitting on the bob of a pendulum
Walter Lewin's best performance was the pendulum demonstration, and I copy the transcript now:
Would the period come out to be the same or not?
[students respond]
Some of you think it's ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Modeling a two-mass, spring, damper system
I'm trying to model a system with two masses, two springs, two dampers, and one applied force using transfer functions. I'll then be inputting it into Simulink.
The system looks like this but there ...
1
vote
2answers
103 views
Do photons actually generate a slight kinetic force?
My question is even though photons have no (rest) mass, do they emit a external force due to EM radiation causing electrons to be excited and jump to higher energy shells which electrons have mass ...
5
votes
1answer
134 views
Practical method to weigh human limbs with common household items?
What methods could be used to determine (or estimate within a reasonable margin of error) the mass of a living human's limbs, short of cutting them off? And more interestingly, how can this be done ...
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
104 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
365 views
What is the difference between impulse and momentum?
What is the difference between impulse and momentum?
The question says it all...I know the second of of them is mass * velocity, but what is the first one for, and when is it used? Also, what are its ...
