2006-07-04 21:14:31 · 6 answers · asked by surya t 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
An object's mass is not really the measure of how much "stuff" is there, but rather a measure of an object's inertia -- essentially how much force is required to alter the object's motion. The more massive the object, the more energy it possesses (that's all forms of energy, including the energy of the individual atoms). Furthermore, the faster an object is moving, the more massive it becomes, although the difference will not be noticeable for us except at extremely high speeds. (This is part of why travel at the speed of light is probably impossible: the faster you go, the more massive you become, which means it becomes increasingly more difficult to make you go any faster.)
The total energy of an object can be determined from the "rest mass" of the object (the mass the object would have if not moving) and its velocity. The constant "c" represents the speed of light, which is exceptionally high, meaning that small increases in mass can lead to enormous increases in energy.
The upshot is that much of the energy is within the individual atoms, and if you can liberate that energy ("split the atom"), you get far more energy than through normal, chemical means. Therefore nuclear power plants can produce more energy than coal plants, and nuclear weapons are much more destructive than "conventional" weapons.
2006-07-04 21:55:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Energy = Mass x C (speed of light) squared.
Basically, this proves that energy is equivalent to mass. In a nuclear reactor, energy is created by destroying mass. Even though the fuel bundle is sealed and welded, it weighs less after burning for 18 months because each megawatt-hour of heat requires the conversion of about 1 gram of U235 or, toward the end of the cycle, Pu239. The conversion does not result in the entire gram of material disappearing, but just a very small portion of that. The speed of light squared, you see, is a VERY LARGE proportionality constant.
2006-07-05 04:22:06 · answer #2 · answered by zawalis 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
e= energy
m= mass
c= velocity of light
2006-07-05 09:52:40 · answer #3 · answered by rav 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, whats's your question about that?
2006-07-05 04:18:23 · answer #4 · answered by Andreja K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question being?
2006-07-05 04:18:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
whatz ur question dude? ???
2006-07-05 04:17:27 · answer #6 · answered by y not? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋