What is the fundamental explanation to Einstein's great equation of E = mc^2 and how does it fit into life?

Question

I have always admire Albert Einstein and his ingenius way of thinking, but has never really been able to fully comprehend his teaching. Can someone please enlighten me?

Answer 1

Albert Einstein was a scientist who never eliminated GOD in his explanation.. while explaining conventional physics..he had once quoted.. "God never plays a dice with Universe" in other words he tried to say that concept of probability doesn't exist.. but scientists like Niels Bohr they supported Quantam Mechanics.. although later Albert Einstein was proven wrong.. i support Einstein because even if you toss a coin.. u can definately sat whether its going to be a head or tail.. by calculating by the factors such as the force applied.. air resistance.. the angular velocity.. and many such things..

E=mc^2 can be explained as energy can be transformed from one form to another..

Answer 2

Straight from the man himself:

"It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing -- a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind. Furthermore, the equation E is equal to m c-squared, in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa. The mass and energy were in fact equivalent, according to the formula mentioned above. This was demonstrated by Cockcroft and Walton in 1932, experimentally."

Answer 3

If you want information on the meaning of the equation:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/legacy.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%3Dmc%C2%B2




JUST FOR THE RECORD:

The equation E = mc² was NOT originated by Einstein.
He was among the first to understand its importance, but not the discoverer of the E = mc² equation as so many erroneously assumed.

That equation was first derived and explained in the physics journal 'Physics of the Ether' by Samuel Tolver Preston

Publisher
E. & F. N. Spon, London, 1875



1875 was 4 years before Einstein was born.

It was published again by Olinto De Pretto in 1903, two years before Einstein published his paper with the same equation.

Einstein was good, but credit should still be placed where it's due.

http://itis.volta.alessandria.it/episteme/ep6/ep6-bjerk1.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,253524,00.html

http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/einstein.html

Answer 4

E=mc^2 simply stands for ; Energy equals mass times constant (speed of light) squared. It helps explain why atomic bombs blowup real good. Look for a book called "The Universe and Dr. Einstein" It's very short, and will help you to understand why we'll NEVER know the "truth" - about life, the universe - and makes you start to think about divinity...

Answer 5

the fundamental explanation is very simple to understand we know that everything contains energy, and it can be converted into one form or the other. For instance take any particle in terms of physics we take an electron, it has some mass,now when this electron is made to move with a velocity lets say c^2 that mass is converted into energy. this process is used in nuclear power plants where radioactive metals like uranium are move with a velocity high enough to convert it into energy. I hope this explanation is sufficent.Thank you

Answer 6

Well, I know a little bit about it:

E=Energy
m= Mass
C= the speed of light

Basically, matter and energy are interchangable. If matter is going the speed of light squared, it is energy. Also, matter can be transformed into energy, like in an atomic bomb or in a battery.

Answer 7

It means that given a certain mass, if the mass travel at twice the speed of light, the mass would double. So if you are 50kg and travelling at twice the speed of light, your weight will become 100kg. But if you slow down to normaly speed, your weight will return to 50kg.

Answer 8

This means that mass could be converted to energy and vice versa.

Answer 9

I heard he came up with this theory while he was under alot of stress. Marital problems, I think.