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2 votes
3 answers
207 views

Energy and momentum & the relation between them

I am trying to wrap my head around energy, mass and momentum, especially in the more general scope of special relativity where massless objects moving at the speed of light also have momentum. So I am ...
user7777777's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
35 views

Massive equivalent of a photon and deduction of a photon's linear momentum

Since photons have an energy given by $E=h\nu$, we could define a particle whose rest mass is such that it has the same energy than the photon: $E=m_0c^2 \Longrightarrow m_0=\frac{h\nu}{c^2}$. We now ...
Lagrangiano's user avatar
  • 1,616
1 vote
3 answers
66 views

Besides traveling at the speed of light, how can we be sure that it is possible to have energy and momentum without mass?

How can we be sure that it is possible to have energy and momentum without mass? If something were to continually lose energy, would it not also lose a corresponding amount of mass? I understand that ...
Cody Livengood's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
233 views

Relationship between mass, momentum and kinetic energy

Is there any fundamental reason why (at least mathematically) momentum is the integral of mass wrt velocity and kinetic energy the integral of momentum also wrt velocity? ie $$p= \int m \ dv = mv$$ $$...
PetGriffin's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
126 views

Why momenergy has magnitude equal to the mass?

The mom-energy of a particle is a 4-vector: Its magnitude is proportional to its mass, it points in the direction of the particle's spacetime displacement, and it is reckoned using the proper time for ...
user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
528 views

Momentum of massless particles [duplicate]

If $E=pc$ for massless particles, then it should be $p=0$ as $p=mv$ and $m=0$. Why do we use the equation $E=pc$ for massless particles?
MR. X's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
1 answer
127 views

de Broglie wavelength for particles with mass [duplicate]

is $p=\frac{h}{\lambda}$ only true for massless particles? because generally $E=\sqrt{p^2c^2+m^2c^4}$, then if we equate it to $h\nu$ we get $$p=\sqrt{\frac{h^2}{\lambda^2}-m^2c^2}\neq\frac{h}{\lambda}...
Darkenin's user avatar
  • 1,038
0 votes
3 answers
180 views

Do photons really have kinetic energy?

I haven't found a satisfactory answer to this question. In special theory of relativity $$E=\sqrt{m_{0}^2c^4 + p^2c^2}.$$ When we consider photons where $m_{0}=0$ then $E=pc$ but we also know that ...
Shreyansh Pathak's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
2k views

Ultra-Relativistic and Non-Relativistic cases for energy of a particle

Let us suppose that we have a particle of energy $$E = (m^2c^4 + p^2c^2)^{1/2}$$ Can we say that for ultra-relativistic limit $p \rightarrow \infty$ $E = pc$ ? Or in the non-relativistic case $p ...
seVenVo1d's user avatar
  • 3,122
0 votes
1 answer
71 views

Energy and momentum

Does a muon or an electron with the same energy have the higher momentum? According to $E^2=m^2+p^2$ if you increase the restmass, the momentum must decrease. But if we look at a nonrelativistic case:...
Qoray's user avatar
  • 109
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

In special relativity is mass just a measure of all other energy than kinetic?

The energy momentum equation in special relativity is: $$E^2=(pc)^2+(mc^2)^2.$$ and it holds for a moving but not accelerating object. One special case is the massless photon: $$E=pc.$$ And another ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 357
0 votes
0 answers
92 views

Derivation for relationship between rest mass, kinetic energy and momentum

I am trying to find a particle's rest mass in terms of its kinetic energy and momentum. Is this following derivation correct? $(E_{0}+K)^2=E_{0}^2+(pc)^2$ $2E_{0}K=p^2c^2-K^2$ $2m_{0}c^2K=p^2c^2-K^...
Harry Stuart's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
3k views

Conservation of mass in relativistic collisions?

It's stated in my textbook that relativistic mass is conserved in collisions, even in inelastic ones. So if you have a particle with rest mass $m$ moving with speed $u$ (considerable fraction of the ...
Pancake_Senpai's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
83 views

Distinction between various forms of relativistic energy

If I am told to find the total relativistic energy of a particle moving with some velocity v, do I use $E=\gamma mc^2$ or $E^2=p^2c^2+m^2c^4$ and take the square root. I am not sure the distinction ...
user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
3k views

Derivation of $E=pc$ for a massless particle?

In classical mechanics, massless particles don't exist because for $m=0$, $p=0$. The relativistic relation between energy, mass and spatial momentum is: $E^2= (pc)^2 + (mc^2)^2$ . So it is said that ...
NickyR's user avatar
  • 121

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