Mechanics Of The Physical Universe.
MECHANICS OF THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
In order to describe the mechanics of the Physical universe, three quantities are required: time, distance, and mass. since time and distance are relative quantities, one might guess that the mass of a body also varies with its state of motion. ad indeed the most from this practical results of Relativity have arisen from this principle-the relative of mass. In its popular sense, "mass" is just another word for "weight." but as used by the physicist, it denotes a rather different and more fundamental property of matter-namely, resistance to a change of motion. A greater force is necessary to move a freight car than a velocipede; the freight car resists motion more mss. In classical physics, the mass of anybody is a freight car should remain the whether it is at rest on a siding, rolling across the country at 60 miles an hour, or hurtling through outer space at 60,000 miles a second.
But Relativity asserts that the mass of a moving body is by no means constant, but increases with its velocity. The old physics failed to discover this fact simply because man's senses and instruments are too crude to note the infinitesimal increases of mass-produced by the feeble accelerations of ordinary experience. They become perceptible only when bodies attain velocities close to that of light. (this phenomenon, incidentally, does not conflict with the relativistic contraction of length. One is tempted to ask: how can an object become smaller and at the same time heavier? The contraction, it should be noted, is only in the direction of motion: width and breadth are unaffected. Moreover, mass is not "heaviness" but resistance to motion.)
Einstein's equation giving the increase of mass with velocity is similar in form to the other equations of Relativity but vastly more important in its consequences:
Comments
Post a Comment