Question #3 What Does e=mc2 Really mean?

Ah yes, e=mc2. Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. OK, lets stop right there. e=mc2 is not the theory of relativity. e=mc2 is a mass-energy equivalence equation that was used in one of the many papers published by Albert Einstein over a period of time on his theory of relativity that he was developing. The equation e=mc2 did not in fact appear at all in Einsteins first paper on mass-energy equivalence. It was written as a sentence "if a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/V².". Except it was in German. The formula went through many iterations by other scientists before Einstein refined it in 1946. To see where this equation fits into his theory of relativity though you need to know the full formula. 
Find out after the jump....

Not quite but close enough.

I don't need to dwell much on this topic here because the leg work has already been done by others. I'm going to leave a link here to a youtube video by the amazing minute physics guys. They explain the same point that I would explain but they do it brilliantly in just over 2 minutes and they do it far better that I could do here.

For further reading on the matter of matter, energy, and speed, another great question is Why does e=mc2? and you can find the answer in a book by the physicist Brian Cox entitled "Why Does e=mc2?". It's a great read and very educational.

Here is the link to the Minute Physics video on youtube; Minute Physics e=mc2 is incomplete

Enjoy!


For more information about Albert Einstein check out the Einstein archives online or 
the official Albert Einstein website 
Nobelprize.org has information as well of course.