Dominic Felice

Mr. Yackuboskey

Honors Physics 9

April 25, 2018

Physics on Edge

In physics, we are taught that energy is the ability to do work or cause change. Work

happens when force causes an object to move or change. We are also taught that energy does not

take up space or have any mass. However, in the case of rest energy it says otherwise.

According to one of Einstein’s special relativity equations, to find an object’s total kinetic

energy, you need to include its rest energy, which is E = mc^2. In this equation m is the object’s

mass and c is the speed of light. But where does this rest energy come from, you may ask. Well,

the answer to this is that any object has rest energy from its mass alone. Therefore, the mass of

an object is a simple way to measure its rest energy. But we are taught that energy has no mass.

Therefore, we must accept that this is an aspect of special relativity. One example of this

phenomenon is commonly known as nuclear fission. The most common example of it occurring

is when you take the nucleus of an atom and split it into two nuclei. If the two masses of these

nuclei are taken together, they will be measure slightly less than the mass of the original nucleus.

This is because when the nucleus was split, it lost about a thousandth of its initial mass which

had rest energy, and turned that mass’ rest energy into other energy, losing that mass and the
converting the rest energy. This results in a huge amount of energy release. This is different than

what we are taught in classic physics, for if we applied the laws of regular physics to this

experiment the two nuclei should have the same combined mass of the original nucleus, and no

energy should have been released. Another example of this phenomenon is known as nuclear

fusion. This most commonly happens in stars, like Earth’s sun. About every second, 4.5 million

tons of the sun’s mass is transformed from hydrogen to helium, and during these fusions huge

amounts of energy are released. So much so that it is enough to heat Earth that is a significant

distance away from the sun. However, most energy changes are much smaller than these nuclear

reactions, and do not require Einstein’s special relativity formulas to calculate correctly.

Although often times it is possible to calculate energy without including an object’s mass

or using special relativity equations, there will always be times when classic physics will not

properly be able to express the universe’s laws. Just like in the case of the equivalence of mass

and energy, where it will be needed to use Einstein’s special relativity equations.
 Works Citied

• “Work and Energy.” Physics, by Raymond A. Serway and Jerry S. Fraughn, Houghton

Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 178–179.