Can somebody explain one of Einstein's theories....?

Question

Einstein theorized that an OBJECT moving faster than the speed of light will become so massive that it will become the size of the universe. Explanation please?

Answer 1

I'm surprised no one used the word singularity. Singularity is what you are referring to. A singularity is a point in spacetime at which spacetime curvature becomes infinite, in other words infinite density but zero volume. So it won't become the size of the universe, but it will have the same density as the universe, or weigh the same, which is hard for anyone to comprehend. So the reason that it can't go as fast, or faster than the speed of light is because you would need infinite energy for it's propulsion, and there is not infinite energy in the universe. Good question.

Answer 2

Massive does not necessarily mean big. Einstein claimed that the energy required to move an object to the speed of light would require more than all of the energy in the universe, the energy that is pored into the effort would become part of the mass of the object.

Answer 3

Technically, nothing that has mass, can even move *at* the speed of light; nevermind moving *faster* than the speed of light. As to increasing in size, or converting its mass into energy, that is pure speculation.

Most physicists consider that as an object nears the speed of light, it's mass does *not* increase, per se. Rather, it's *momentum* becomes very large. Otherwise, the principle of conservation of mass and energy would be violated.

The momentum of an object near the speed of light is:

P = m*v / √(1 - v²/c²)

where m is the mass, v is velocity, and c is the speed of light. if you set v = c, the square root term becomes zero, and you can't divide by zero. If the v is set at greater than c, then you end up with the square root of a negative number, which is imaginary.

Here is a graph of the momentum of an object as it nears the speed of light, versus it's momentum predicted by Newtonian mechanics:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/jw/images/totalenergy2.gif

Hope that is not too confusing.....;-)
~W.O.M.B.A.T.

Answer 4

As matter approaches the speed of light, becomes more massive. As you get closer and closer to the speed of light, the object gets more and more massive, and it takes more and more energy to accelerate the object. The limit to how fast the object can go is the speed of light. If an object were to be moving at the speed of light, the mass of the object would be infinite, so no matter how much force you apply, it won't accelerate anymore. Matter can't actually reach the speed of light, but it can get closer and closer to it.

Answer 5

I am afraid that Einstein did not exactly said that...he stated that, at speed of light, (300,000 km/second), any material body will expand (not the size of the universe...no), and will cease to exist as material object, to be transformed in pure energy (light).....
Hence, if you can put all that light back together (theoretically) you coud "reorganize the traveling matter (this statement has given topics for so many films about teletransportation, and the like)...
This is one of his equational pieces in the special relativity, not the general one,...
Cheers

Answer 6

Actually, it would take hours and hours to properly explain his Theory of Special Relativity, which is what you seem to be referring to. The thing he said was that nothing can exceed the speed of light, and approaching it would require nearly infinite energy....energy being changing to matter at the rate of starting matter times the speed of light squared. (186,000 times 186,000. Size would not necessarily increase, as the matter involved might end up of nothing but neutrons, one teaspoon of which, on earth, would weigh 10 tons or so. I am no expert, but it sounded like a fun question to try to answer.