Energy & mass equivalence
- Einstein showed in his theory of relativity that matter can be considered a form of energy and hence, he proposed:
- mass can be converted into energy
- energy can be converted into mass
- This is known as mass-energy equivalence, and can be summarised by the equation:
E = mc2
- Where:
- E = energy (J)
- m = mass (kg)
- c = the speed of light (m s-1)
- Some examples of mass-energy equivalence are:
- the fusion of hydrogen into helium in the centre of the sun
- the fission of uranium in nuclear power plants
- nuclear weapons
- high-energy particle collisions in particle accelerators
