Electromagnets Chapter 15 Page 432 Converting between units Page 433 NIST physical reference data NIST physical element laboratory
This additional term forms what is probably the most famous equation in physics: E 5 mc 2. Perhaps the most familiar application of this equation is in nuclear physics. During nuclear fusion, protons and neutrons combine in the interior of the Sun to form helium nuclei, as well as the nuclei of other elements (Figure 1). The difference in the masses of the reactants and products of fusion, multiplied by c 2, equals the released energy. 11. Figure 1 The Sun's energy comes from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei and neutrons to produce helium nuclei and energy. This process is a direct result of mass converting to energy, as predicted in the special theory of relativity. Mass–Energy Equivalence Recall from the discussion of relativistic momentum (Section 11. 3) that the relativ- istic mass of an object varies with the inertial reference frames in which the mass and an observer are located. From the relativistic momentum equation, it follows that the equation for relativistic mass is mrelativistic 5 m Å 12 v 2 c 2 where m is the rest mass of the object.