In 1905 at the age of twenty six, Albert Einstein wrote the first paper detailing his new-found formula of E=mc². Einstein has since become known as one of the greatest physicists of all time. There are very few in the world who haven't heard his name in conjunction with his proven formula that equates mass and energy and the relationship they share.
It turned out to be the most profound discovery of its time, but do most of us really know why or what exactly it really means?
E or energy, equals m or mass, times c or the speed of light squared.
For those of you who may be scratching your heads, as to why the speed of light is represented by the letter c, the answer is, it's the initial letter of 'celeritas', which is the ancient Latin word meaning; speed.
Einstein's mathematical equation in detail
Still, the formula makes very little sense until we know the values of each representative letter.
For example:
- Is E for energy in watts, BTU's, or Joules?
- What is the value of m for mass? Is its value in ounces, pounds, grams, kilograms?
- What measurement do we plug in for the speed of light? Would it be miles per second, miles per hour or meters per second?
For anyone to actually use the formula they first need to know these variables, so here they are:
(Joules) = (kilograms) X (meters/second)
The real truth about mass, energy and the speed of light
An equation that changes our understanding of the universe, Einsteins discovery carried with it several astounding truths concerning the laws and structure of the universe. These truths were as grand in scope as the ancient historical discovery by Eratosthenes in 273 B.C. that the earth is round:
- Even a small amount of mass contains a massive amount of energy.
A sample formula that illustrates this is as follows:
E = 1 kilogram x 299,792,458 meters per second squared
In this equation, the value of E is 89,875,517,873,681,764 Joules. Not millions, not billions, not quadrillions, but 89 quintillion plus some odd quadrillion Joules. That's a lot of Joules! As a matter of fact, the energy contained in one kilogram of water is comparable to ten million gallons of gasoline.
- The speed of light in a vacuum is finite. Only pure energy in the form of light and electromagnetic waves can attain that maximum speed. It would be impossible to plug that constant into the equation if that were not the case.
- Energy can be transformed into mass and mass can be transformed into energy.
There can be no doubt about the sheer genius of Einstein, and E = mc² was just the beginning for him.
In an effort to make a positive and personal difference to you the reader, the following is a quote from the one true source of inspiration: "We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided." (Albert Einstein, 1934)
What is E = mc²?
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Sources:
Jürgen Schmidhuber Einstein bio (1879 - 1955) and the "Greatest Scientific Discovery Ever"
Wikipedia.org Timeline of scientific discoveries, 20th century
Virginia.edu, Mass and Energy, Michael Fowler, University of Virginia 3/1/2008
"Einstein's Big Idea" video, Nova, PBS.org
Worsleyschool.net, "E=mc² explained"
Space and motion.com, Help Humanity, Albert Einstein: God, Religion & Theology
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