Should E = mc^2 be E = wc^2?

Question

If the influence of gravity decreases as you move away from a planet, shouldn't Einstein's equation be E = wc^2? For example, does an object dropped on the earth yield the same energy as an object dropped on the moon?

Answer 1

You completely missed the point, E=MC^2 has nothing to do with gravity, its more about atomic energy,

The energy(e) of a mass to energy conversion equals the mass(m) that was converted multiplied by the speed of light(c) squared.

Plus the mass of an object will never change between here (Colorado) or the moon, an object with the mass of 1KG will still have the same mass on the moon, think of a balancing scale

Basically you’re saying an U.S. Made nuclear weapon would not work on the moon since the weight of the core has changed

Answer 2

All the equation says is that an object's Energy (in Joules, I think) is equal to that object's Mass (in grams?) times the speed of light (c) squared (in meters per second?). Though we do scale our measurements to reflect the fact that we live in a gravitational field, an atom's atomic weight (mass) does not change, whether on the Moon or in deep space. Its atomic weight is directly related to how many protons and neutrons it is made up of. Although I'm not sure what units of measurement are used in Einstein's famous equation, you get a pretty darn big number if you square the speed of light. So the equation tells you that mass is "frozen" energy, and if you could release it, like through nuclear fusion or fission, you get a huge thermonuclear explosion. You can power an atomic reactor with relatively very little mass, in this case enriched uranium. Mass and gravity are two different things. Any object made up of atoms has mass. Gravity is just a force that interacts with mass. Photons (light particles/waves) theoretically do not have any mass but they can sure pack a punch because they can have very high energy. The equation goes both was - Energy can be converted to Mass by the same formula - otherwise we wouldn't exist. The universe would still be all energy.

Answer 3

Einstein's equation states that energy is dependent on the mass of an object, not the force generated by the object (which is weight w).

Answer 4

The short answer is "no".

Here's why: the "m" in the equation stands for mass. Mass is not the same thing as gravity; mass is (assumed to be) what *generates* gravity.
The formula means that the amount of energy that you would get by converting some mass into pure energy is equal to "that mass times c-squared" (c being the speed of light - 300.000 km/s)

Answer 5

This equation is a relationship between energy and matter. Gravity does not factor in. Your weight would change on different planets, but your mass stays the same.

Answer 6

no, mass is not at all equal to weight, einstein's relativity equation is correct as written, weight has nothing to do with the energy given out. and as to your earth-and-moon situation, it depends on the height you drop them from. if you drop something from a certain height on earth, there will be a height you can drop the same object from on the moon to achieve the same energy output.

Answer 7

do you even know what the equation means??
it means energy and matter are interchangable
by the way, Einstein did not concentrate of what Newton had came up with. Einstein was more of a astrophysicist except that he didnt pay attention to gravity that much.

Answer 8

No, because Einstein's formula does not deal with potential energy due to gravitation. It represents the equivalency of matter and energy, stating that one is simply a different form of the other.

Answer 9

NO,
because Mass doesn't involve Gravity, but weight does.
so they are not the same.

Answer 10

mass...weight takes into account gravity. the theory wouldn't work in space if you took into account gravity, and gravity has dependand on m...