Mass versus relativistic and rest masses
Abstract
The concept of relativistic mass, which increases with velocity, is not compatible with the standard language of relativity theory and impedes the understanding and learning of the theory by beginners. The same difficulty occurs with the term rest mass. To get rid of relativistic mass and rest mass it is appropriate to replace the equation E =mc2 by the true Einstein's equation E0=mc2, where E0 is the rest energy and m is the mass.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- May 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.3056168
- Bibcode:
- 2009AmJPh..77..430O
- Keywords:
-
- 03.30.+p;
- Special relativity