| ext">Albert Einstein was a physicist, born in | | | | Furthermore, it is important that we not think of mass |
| Wurttemberg, Germany in 1879. Though the Einstein | | | | as a means of substance necessarily. Yes, we are |
| family was Jewish, Albert was educated in Catholic | | | | talking about weight, but it is not necessarily about the |
| schools. Early on, he struggled with his speech, and | | | | quantity, and more about the space something is |
| being able to put sentences together in the correct | | | | occupying. |
| way. What did not help was that the family moved | | | | All other considerations aside, an object at rest can still |
| around quite frequently, moving across Germany, and | | | | have energy, but it is stored, and must be set in motion |
| then abroad to Italy and Switzerland. Despite his | | | | in order to hold true to the mass-equivalence theory. |
| struggles, he became an excellent student and | | | | So energy, while still valid to the object at rest, is null |
| showed an early interest in the areas of science and | | | | and void without the element of action. But there is still |
| mathematics. | | | | the question of having to square the speed of light in |
| Einstein’s drive came from trying to find the | | | | order to complete the equation. This is because |
| problems that arose in modern physics of the time, | | | | when something is moving four times as fast as |
| and building on the theories of his contemporaries in | | | | something else, it doesn't have four times the energy |
| order to develop new theories of his own. He was | | | | but rather 16 times the energy (Tyson 2005). The |
| particularly troubled by Newtonian mechanics, and | | | | number has to take into account this movement, but |
| began developing the theory of relativity, among | | | | nonetheless, yields a number of epic proportions. Even |
| others, and delved into the world of quantum | | | | something minuscule like a pebble can yield a great |
| mechanics and physics. | | | | deal of activity. This equation encompasses every bit |
| In 1905, Albert Einstein arrived at his famous equation | | | | of matter, tall and small, and everything in between. |
| of E=mc^2 while he was doing extensive work on | | | | Einstein’s theory is still used to this day, because |
| relativity. The most basic interpretation of this equation | | | | many advanced technologies call for it. Anything that |
| is defined simply as energy equals mass times the | | | | uses radiation, or radioactive decay of a substance, is |
| speed of light squared, also known as the | | | | a direct result of this theory, and is used to measure |
| mass-energy equivalence equation (Tyson 2005). His | | | | how we are able to view the human body. The |
| main goal was to prove that mass can be defined by | | | | illumination would be the energy, and something like a |
| the energy that it produces, and everything that has | | | | PET (positron emission tomography) scan will |
| mass subsequently has a level of energy. | | | | specifically pinpoint the radiation emission, allowing the |
| In this equation, the terms are defined accordingly: | | | | doctors to see the progression of a disease. Also, |
| E’ is the energy equivalent to mass, | | | | variations of Einstein’s equation have also been |
| measured in joules; m’ is the mass, | | | | used to accommodate momentum, which shows |
| measured in kilograms; the c’ represents the | | | | how light works, and how energy and light can be |
| speed of light, but actually stands for the Latin word | | | | transferred and transformed from one place to |
| for speed, which is celeritas, yet actually measured in | | | | another (Tyson 2005). |
| meters per second. On the surface, this equation may | | | | Regardless of its comprehension by the masses, |
| be puzzling, because we are to believe that, under the | | | | Albert Einstein’s equation, E=mc^2 still even |
| right conditions, matter is converted into energy, and | | | | perplexes physicists and mathematicians. However, its |
| vice versa. This is because an object has various | | | | basic principle allows them the chance to see just how |
| forms of energy, including potential and kinetic energies. | | | | things work and change. |
| Mass has to be converted to energy, and this can be | | | | References |
| done in a variety of ways. An example of this would | | | | Flores, F. (2005). Interpretations of Einstein’s |
| be a billiard ball that is heated. It will absorb the heat | | | | equation E=mc^2. International Studiesin the Philosophy |
| energy, and according to its properties, it will expand. | | | | of Science, 19(3), 245-260. Retrieved November 30, |
| The heat expansion thus becomes mass as a direct | | | | 2007 from |
| result of energy conversion (Flores 2005). Thus, it is | | | | Academic Search Premier. |
| not so much a question of the object, but the changing | | | | Tyson, P. (2005). Einstein’s big idea: the legacy |
| of the object that makes it equivalent to energy. | | | | of E=mc^2. |