• Question: Do you know what MCsquared stands for?

    Asked by RADIO2016 to Reka on 9 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Reka Nagy

      Reka Nagy answered on 9 Nov 2016:


      E = MCsquared is Albert Einstein’s famous equation about the theory of special relativity.
      E stands for energy, M stands for mass and C stands for the speed of light.
      What this equation really means is that energy and mass are the same thing, physically speaking, and can be changed from one to the other – that is, energy can become mass and mass can become energy.

      In other words, if part of an object’s mass is converted to energy, its mass will decrease. Conversely, if you add energy to something by, for example, heating it up (heat is a form of energy), it will become heavier – only very very slightly, so you will not notice the chance, but it is happening!

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