Re: Mass/Energy Conservation

[David Bowman <David_Bowman@GEORGETOWNCOLLEGE.EDU>]

Regarding Chuck Britton's question:

> So the modern version of the 'Equation of the Century' should be written as
>
>                E = (gamma) m c^2  ??

No. It's usual form is fine.  Maybe it could be slightly improved upon
by putting a subscript 0 on the E, ie, E_0 = m*c^2, because the
meaning of the equation is *not* to identify a system's total energy as
its mass, but rather to state that an object at rest has a rest
energy E_0 that exists by virtue of the mere existence of the system's
mass itself.  This rest energy is just the total *internal* energy in
the system, doesn't include any kinetic energy contribution from the
motion of the system's center of mass, and is a scalar under Lorentz
transformations.

David Bowman
David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu