E MC2

PAN, July 27, 2005, slide 1
What does E = Mc
2
really mean?
Walter Benenson
Lyman Briggs School of Science
and
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Famous but not understood
millions of hits on Google
very few are physics
There is Newton and the apple. Might be as famous
as Washington and the cherry tree and equally
historically correct. It is comparable to to be or not
to be, Lots wife, the Adam and Eve story, The
picture of Dorian Gray etc.
This is the only famous science equation. Famous
means you may make a joke about in a comic strip.
But like many famous things, they are not understood.
Heres a typical Google hit:
Something to think about
Why is E = mc
2
associated with nucleus physics?
When Einstein created this equation 100 years
ago, was it about the nucleus?
Answer is simple: The nucleus was discovered 13 years later!
Many books make this mistake. The idea that this equation
works only in atomic bombs etc.
What is Mass?
Mass, M, is the resistance of a body to acceleration. The
bigger the mass, the harder it is to accelerate. This is
called the inertial mass.
Weight is the attraction of the Earth on a body. This turns
out to be proportional to the mass. This type of mass is
called the gravitational mass.
an experimental fact: inertial mass = gravitational mass
we dont know why this is so.
Gravitational Mass on a Spring
When you put a
block on a spring,
the amount it moves
down depends on its
gravitational mass.
It is attracted to
the Earth by the
force of gravity
which is proportional
to M.
Inertial Mass on a Spring
The frequency of the
up down motion is the
same anywhere in the
universe. It depends
only on the mass M and
the strength of the
spring.
Remember

! =
k
m
?
What is Momentum?
Momentum is the amount of inertia which a moving body
possesses.
It has a direction and is proportional to the mass M of the
body and its speed. Except for one case: electromagnetic
radiation which has momentum but no mass.
The reason SUVs are safer than sedans for the occupants
is because they have much more momentum at the same
speed. They are harder to stop. The faster you stop the
more the damage to the driver.
What is E = Mc
2
?
Review: light consists of particles called photons. For
a photon E = h! = cp where p is the momentum. But
even classical theories (no photons) give light a
momentum. Comet tails bend away from the sun
because of this.
This is an experimental fact which has been veried
many, many times. For example when an atom or
nucleus emits an x-ray or "-ray, it recoils with p
recoil
=
h!/c. The energy of this recoil reduces that available
for the emitted photon. (Mossbauer effect)
Nucleus Photon
Conservation of Momentum
You can think of this three ways:
1. Newtons third law (man pushes on boat, it pushes back)
2. Momentum is conserved (man goes to left, boat goes right)
3. Center of mass of man plus boat can not move
Einsteins Gedanken Experiment
If radiation E is emitted from the left end of the
box, the box must recoil to the left with a
calculable momentum. Hence the box moves a
calculable distance before the radiation is
absorbed at the other end, and the box stops.
Since the center of mass can not move, the
radiation must have transferred mass.
The Algebra

Mv =
E
c
v =
E
Mc

!t =
L
c

!x = v!t =
EL
Mc
2

0 = !M"x + mL

E = mc
2
recoil of box due to
light momentum
time light is in ight
distance box moves
center of mass doesnt move

EL
c
2
= mL
plug in for !x
solve
In Class Exercise
According to what we have said, which has a larger mass,
The bound hydrogen atom on the left or the unbound proton
plus electron on the right?
bound electron unbound electron
p p
<
You have to add energy to the left system
to make it into the right system. Therefore
it has less mass by an amount E
binding
/c
2
e
e
Why dont we solve our energy
crisis this way?
Suppose you have an object of mass 50 kg (like some famous
physicist.) How much energy is that?
There is no way to use the rest mass of a 50 kg object. You
can not change the total number of protons, neutrons, and
electrons.
However, you can get back 2Mc
2
pretty easily. Send the
50 kg into a place in space where there is lots of antimatter.
better way to write equation
E = 50(310
8
)
2
= 4.510
18
Joules = 1.2510
9
MWH
Average home uses 12 MWH per year.

!E = !Mc
2
Another in-class exercise
Converting a 50 kg
object into energy
would produce 4.510
18
Joules, enough to run
10 million homes for a
year.
How much mass is
actually converted to
energy to provide
electricity for 10
million homes for a
year?
Answer: 50 kg
but it takes the chemical
burning of 510
11
kg of fuel
to do it.
Another
How much mass is converted to energy when 2
moles of water are produced from H and O?
It takes a net of 118 kcal to decompose 2 moles of
H
2
O into its elements
2H
2
+ O
2
# 2H
2
0
2 moles = 36 g = 0.036 kg
118kcal = 118kcal4186J/kcal= 4.9310
5
J = E =mc
2
m = E/c
2
= 4.9310
5
/(910
16
) = 5.510
-12
kg
fraction of mass lost = 5.510
-14
/0.036=1.510
-10
too small to observe.
Experimental Verication in
Nuclear Physics
proton + deuteron => helium-three + gamma
p + D =>
3
He + "
1.6724 + 3.3432 => 5.0156 + ?????(x10
-27
kg)
the " has no mass but has an energy 5.5 MeV. If
we convert this with E = Mc
2
, we get
5.0156 - [1.6724+3.3432] = 0.0098 x10
-27
kg
this is the extra mass between the end product
and the sum of the two entrance particles.
Fraction = 0.018 (one of the largest known)
Mass Increase with Velocity
Most objects have a rest mass, m
0
, but
not the photon.
The actual inertial mass, m, then
depends on velocity.
m = " m
0
even at v/c = 0.02, (3,720
miles/second), " = 1.0002. Mass is only
0.02% bigger than the rest mass.
Conclusion: relativity unimportant for
macroscopic systems. Certainly not
useful in space exploration. But GPS
systems would not work without it.

!=
1
1-(
v
c
)
2
0. 0
1. 0
2. 0
3. 0
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 0
0. 0 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0
v / c
! = 1/(1-(v/c)
2
)
1/2
!
Some Practical aspects of E = mc
2
The cyclotron frequency is the
number of turns per second made by a
particle in a magnetic eld
What happens as particle accelerates
in the cyclotron? Its mass increases so
f must change.
Solution: B increases with R just the
right way.
At a xed B, f depends only on Q/m.
So
6
Li would have the same frequency
as
12
C. Small binding difference makes
frequency different by 0.25%.
Magnetic eld of the
K50 increases right
at the outer edge
where the mass
changes.

f =
qB
2!m
f =
qB
2!m
What Powers the Sun?
Nuclear reactions power the stars (and the sun)
All energy comes from mass
Mass
initial
Mass
nal
Mass
converted
= fMass
initial
Energy released
fMass
initial
c
2
Reaction
No other source lasts lifetime of sun (4.5 x 10
9
yr)
f
chem
~ 1.5x10
-10
2200 y
f
gravity
~ 7.5x10
-6
10
7
y
f
fusion
~ 1.0x10
-3
10
11
y
Good source book
but not always right
Very good but a little complex source
Very interesting section on
Einsteins work in the
patent ofce.
It was the synchronization
of clocks, a key
technological problem of
the late 19th century.
Also describes how
Poincars essays on
important open questions in
physics led to Einsteins
great discoveries of 1905.
Conclusions
E=Mc
2
refers to the change in mass when you impart
energy to a body.
The mass of a solid body can not be converted
entirely to energy. In fact only a tiny fraction.
E=Mc
2
refers to all systems not just nuclei
Recommended reading: Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's
Maps: Empires of Time, by Peter Galison, E=Mc
2
by
David Bodanis.
Main reference: Special Relativity, by A. P. French.
Relativistically Correct Derivation
L
m
1
m
2
m
1
m
2
v
1
v
2
This takes into account the fact that recoil m
1
has a
reduced mass and m
2
an increased mass.
Complicated proof, but answer is the same.

E MC2

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PAN, July 27, 2005, slide 1

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