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E MC 2 Worksheet

This document discusses Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. It provides an explanation of what the equation means, namely that energy and mass are equivalent and can be converted into one another. Two examples are given where this occurs: nuclear fusion in the sun's core and radioactive decay. One practical application of the equation is described for using it to search for dark matter by detecting neutrinos produced from dark matter decay. The document also includes fill-in-the-blank questions about the variables and units in the equation as well as calculations using the equation.

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Venkata Sairam Mani Sravan Jakkireddy- SNIS182228
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337 views2 pages

E MC 2 Worksheet

This document discusses Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. It provides an explanation of what the equation means, namely that energy and mass are equivalent and can be converted into one another. Two examples are given where this occurs: nuclear fusion in the sun's core and radioactive decay. One practical application of the equation is described for using it to search for dark matter by detecting neutrinos produced from dark matter decay. The document also includes fill-in-the-blank questions about the variables and units in the equation as well as calculations using the equation.

Uploaded by

Venkata Sairam Mani Sravan Jakkireddy- SNIS182228
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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E=mc2 Research

One of the most famous equations of all time, it has been around for about 100 years. What does it
mean? You will research this equation, explain its meaning and provide practical applications.

1. In your own words, explain the meaning of E=mc2.

This equation portrays that wherever there is energy, there is mass and vice-versa. It tells that the rest
energy in an object is the energy required to make the object have a mass, and it also tells me that an
object with mass can never reach the speed of light. It tells me that the rest energy of an object is
directly proportional to it’s mass, it’s almost as if that the mass being multiplied by the speed of light
squared is the energy limit of an object. In conclusion, it shows us that mass and energy are entangled
within space-time. It is proven by Einstein that both mass and energy cause distortions in space time,
which helped Einstein even further which lead him into developing this equation which states the
equivalence between mass and energy. Since they both cause distortions in space-time as well, it’s
theoretically believed that they both are different forms with a same source.

2. Name 2 places where energy is converted into mass or mass into energy?

During the nuclear fission inside the Sun’s core, where Helium (mass) gets converted into
neutrons/fission products, and has a byproduct of a LOT OF heat( up to 5,800 Kelvin) and deadly
light rays (Mostly gamma ray bursts). Since there’s no air particles in the space to excite and
increase temperature, most of the heat as well can also be a byproduct of Infrared rays emission.

After the half-life of an radioactive element, when the element decays, it produces photons at the
Gamma wavelength as a By-product. This is kind-of similar to the first place , which was the inner core of
the Sun. Technically, this is the kind-of method used to making nuclear weapons. This is because the
gamma photon rays cause nuclear fallout, and nuclear bombs themselves use nuclear fission, and also
emit neutrons and other fission products with a lot of force.

3. What is one practical application of this equation? Briefly explain how it works.

THe application of E = mc2 can be used for searching for dark matter. As crazy as this might sound, it is
included in one of Veritasium’s videos, which is a credible source. It is proven that dark matter decays
into Neutrinos. There can be a huge block of sensitive setup of unstable, but also slightly stable
atoms/ions. This is layered around 1 kilometer into the ground, so Muons and other cosmos particles
don’t end up to cause a false trigger for dark matter. As the dark matter passes through the 1 km deep
underground, there is a slight chance of it decaying into Neutrinos. The neutrinos can then trigger the
decay within the block of atoms so it’s possible to detect dark matter even though it cannot interact with
normal matter. The E= mc2 equation helps us calculate whether this hypothesis and experiment setup
would actually work, and either help us save a lot of money, investment and resources, or help us prove
the existence of dark matter.
4. Fill in the table below.

Variable Meaning Standard SI Unit


E Rest Energy of Joules (J)
the object

m Mass of the Kilograms (kg)


object
c Speed of light Meters per
constant
second (m/s)
5. In standard SI Units, what is the speed of light?

The speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s, which is very close to 3 x 10 8 m/s.

6. If you could convert 1 kg of matter into energy, how much energy would you get? VFW!

We can use the formula ‘E = mc2’ for this question.

We can substitute our values which are m = 1kg, and c = 299,792,458 m/s.

This gives us:

E = (1 kg)(299,792,4582 m/s)

E = 8.98 x 1016 J

7. How does this equation fit into the concept of Conservation of Energy?

In my opinion, it doesn’t violate the conservation of energy. For example, there’s 1 kg of matter. The rest
energy of the matter is 8.98 x 1016 J. As we increase the velocity of the object, more of the rest energy is
being converted into kinetic energy. This would be true because after we have used almost all of the rest
energy as kinetic energy, the matter would be at near light speed. (If all the rest energy was converted
into kinetic energy, the mass would have to be 0.). The sum of the kinetic energy and the rest energy of
the object will always result in 8.98 x 1016 J. Therefore, it doesn’t violate the conservation of energy.

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