Teaching E=m
 c2: An exploration of some issues

Baierlein, Ralph

doi:10.1119/1.2343265

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…They have the capacity to fill any given space. 6 In short, mass and energy are conceptually separated in Newtonian and Maxwellian physics. Figure 1 describes the conceptual relationship between energy and mass, with the concepts of fields and particles before relativity.…”

Section: Situation Posited Basic Assumption Concluded Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the dominant contribution to the mass is inert, the concept of intrinsic energy of a particle has no meaning in Newtonian physics. 6 These properties of fields seem to directly violate Locke's primary qualities. The properties of substantial matter clearly distinguish it in everyday experience from fields carrying energy.…”

Section: Situation Posited Basic Assumption Concluded Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Existing literature raises certain questions: Are energy and mass merely measures of convertible nature? [6,7] Why should the energy representation corresponding to the rest mass be mc 2 ? Even Einstein himself made several different statements on how to interpret MEE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring mass–energy equivalence with consideration of quantum nature

Baek

2023

Eur. J. Phys.

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Mass-Energy Equivalence (MEE) has become a basis of modern physics. In spite of the current educational trends highlighting modern physics education, it has been pointed out that interpretations of MEE are still not in general agreement. In addition, derivations of MEE appeared in textbooks gloss over some logical oversights. MEE also is often introduced only with a declarative knowledge that $mc^2$ represents the rest energy of a particle, making students experience difficulty in learning it. To resolve the instructional challenges, distinguished papers on MEE were analyzed. By specifying common features of derivations in each paper, it was found that there were at least three types of MEE. By identifying the entire hierarchical structure of them, a potential type of MEE was suggested that can be useful to establish the connection between the particle and field.

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Section: Situation Posited Basic Assumption Concluded Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Situation Posited Basic Assumption Concluded Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring mass–energy equivalence with consideration of quantum nature

Baek

2023

Eur. J. Phys.

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“…The ways of approaching the theory of relativity in physics teaching have been discussed by many groups of physicists and educators [8,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. In particular, the so-called mass-energy equivalence, represented by the famous formula E = mc 2 , opens a loophole for different modes of thought and, as a consequence, one finds divergent approaches in both textbooks and discourses by physicists.…”

Section: E = MC 2 and Implications For Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The meanings of mass and E = mc2: an approach based on conceptual maps

Kneubil

2018

Rev. Bras. Ensino Fís.

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In this work, we discuss transformations in the meaning of the concept of mass, which are important to physics teaching, by means of three conceptual schemes, which emphasize visual patterns of knowledge organization. We begin by discussing how the meaning of a physical concept is constructed, through its relations with others. In physical theories, these connections usually involve mathematical operations. We focus on the concept of mass and its changes in three different contexts, namely classical mechanics, electromagnetism and relativity. Modifications are displayed as shifts in its relative position in conceptual schemes. These schemes enforce visual knowledge and may be used as didactical tools for teaching the subject, since they stress both the signification of mass in classical mechanics and its re-signification in relativity. This paves the way for a discussion of different approaches adopted for teaching the mass-energy relation in relativity, expressed by the famous formula E = mc 2 . As the terms rest mass, relativistic mass and invariant mass, which have different ontological and epistemological contents, are part of this discussion, we consider the main approaches to mass present in both relativity textbooks and discourses by some influential physicists.

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“…In spite of its simplicity, the equation is often misinterpreted in textbooks and the popular science literature. Authors in both physics (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and chemistry (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) have attempted over many years to correct the misconceptions. This article is one such effort.…”

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confidence: 99%

E = mc2 for the Chemist: When Is Mass Conserved?

Treptow¹

2005

J. Chem. Educ.

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Teaching E=m c2: An exploration of some issues

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Exploring mass–energy equivalence with consideration of quantum nature

Exploring mass–energy equivalence with consideration of quantum nature

The meanings of mass and E = mc2: an approach based on conceptual maps

E = mc2 for the Chemist: When Is Mass Conserved?

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