2006-11-11 19:01:14 · 8 answers · asked by Jay 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
You have one good answer. Ignore the rest, especially the moron who threw you a curve. Just follow wernersla... and ignore everyone else. Except me.
2006-11-11 20:24:56 · answer #1 · answered by ZenPenguin 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Basically, the equation states that matter and energy are identical. If you could convert a small amount of matter completely, it would yield a tremendous amount of energy. Let's use gasoline as an example. If we burned 3 kilograms of gasoline (about 1.05 US Gallons or 3.97 liters), it would yield 140,000,000 Joules, which is a tremendous amount of energy. However, the burning of gasoline only produces a chemical change.
Now let's calculate converting those 3 kilograms of gasoline completely into energy. Finally, we will use the legendary
E=mc²
And the meaning of this equation?
The energy(e) of a mass to energy conversion equals the mass(m) that was converted multiplied by the speed of light(c) squared.
If we choose mass in kilograms and the speed of light in meters per second, then the answer will be in Joules.
The mass (from the above example) would be 3 kilograms and the speed of light(c) is 299,792,458 meter per second.
So c² = 89,875,517,800,000,000 mtr²/sec² which rounds (for purposes of this discussion) to
9 x 1016 mtr²/sec².
So, the energy equals
3 kg (mass) x 9 x 1016 mtr²/sec² (c²),
which equals 27 x 1016kg • mtr²/sec²
which equals 2.7 x 1017Joules.
This is almost 2 billion times the energy we obtained from the "ordinary" burning of 1 gallon of gasoline. (And we all know that is a huge amount of energy).
2006-11-11 19:12:20 · answer #2 · answered by wernerslave 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
E means energy
M means the mass of an object
C is the speed of light
That means the potential energy of an object is it's mass times the speed of light squared...a big number. Which is why atomic bombs can make such big explosions with just a little mass.
2006-11-11 19:15:06 · answer #3 · answered by Matt 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Listen, frankly put you have one valid answer and a few crappy ones.
On top of it all this equation is no longer a proof as it does not correctly account for displacement.
Don't get me wrong E. was the man but I would have had a great coffee conversation with him over this one.
2006-11-11 19:28:15 · answer #4 · answered by Aves 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Energy = Mass * ( Speed of Light )square. Ok? u can also say like this, Eat = Meat * ( Carefully )square!!!!!
2006-11-11 19:33:31 · answer #5 · answered by Nashid 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Einstein surely knows. I know too and children from grade school. How about you?
2006-11-11 19:07:37 · answer #6 · answered by guRl 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%3Dmc2
2006-11-11 19:10:55 · answer #7 · answered by ♥mango♥ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you're too dumb to understand
2006-11-11 19:03:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋