Re[4]: Fusion Fuel Cell
Index Previous in Thread Next in Thread

"Besides, if "rest mass" possessed credibility, Einstein's postulates crash."

- Rest mass is a mathematical construct. It is not mass as you are thinking of it. Because mass and energy are roughly equivalent, you can take the energy of a photon and assign a mass to it as if it were a stationary object. This is a useful tool for dealing with the photon.
"He said mass equals energy."

- No, he said that mass and energy were interchangeable. Mass can be converted to energy and vice versa, but they are NOT the same thing.
"And special relativity requires the conservation of energy, therefore, mass."

- Actually, the rule is that mass+energy must be conserved.
" If objects become heavier during near luminal speeds, where does the extra mass originate? "

- The extra mass you are referring to increases even when you are driving in your car. It is just a very very very small change. The extra mass is a secondary result of the theory. As to the reason, can somebody rescue me here? It has been a while, and relativity gives me a headache.

"Furthermore, photon capture imparts extra mass to the target exactly equal to the photon mass. Then "rest mass" becomes real and quantifiable."

- In any NUCLEAR reaction, yes, the photon rest mass is added to the mass of the object. It is real and quantifiable, but it is still not "mass". It is a math construct to make it easier to do the equations.


Created on Monday, June 04, 2001 1:25 PM EDT by Clay G Codner