Re: Please explain where you get e=mc^2 from 1905 paper


<franklinhu@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1192340864.849836.301840@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have been reading the original "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend
Upon Its Energy-Content?" 1905 paper by Albert Einstein and I really
don't see how Einstein concluded e=mc^2.

See the original paper at:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/E_mc2/www/

The last part says:

"Neglecting magnitudes of fourth and higher orders we may place

K0-K1 = 1/2(L/c^2)v^2

From this equation it directly follows that:--

If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass
diminishes by L/c²."

Now just how does this in any way directly follow???? He might as well
have said " ... and then a miracle happens and ...".

Einstein proved *that* it happens. He wasn't claiming that he understood the
mechanism to it.

The equation above doesn't appear to contain any mass parameter. Einstein
speaks of it but does not assign a symbol to it. In this case Einstein
referres to the mass as that which gives a body kinetic energy. A change in
kinetic energy is therefore proportional to the value of the bodies mass.

Pete
..

The
K0, K1 terms appear to represent a kinetic energy terms. It appears to
me to be saying that the difference in kinetic energy depends on the
energy L emitted by the system in question.

How do you get E=mc^2 from any of this?

-fhuemc


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