How Einstein Discovered E0 = mc2

Hecht, Eugene

doi:doi:10.1119/1.3677283

Keyword
Volume/Page
DOI
Advanced

Search Content Type

Volume: Page/Article:

article doi:

You are not logged into this journal. Log In

Previous Article | Next Article

The Physics Teacher -- February 2012 -- Volume 50, Issue 2, pp. 91

How Einstein Discovered E₀ = mc²

Eugene Hecht

Adelphi University, Garden City, NY

Alerts
- Alert Me When Cited
- Alert Me When Corrected
Tools
Share
- Email Abstract
- Connotea
- CiteULike
- del.icio.us
- BibSonomy
- Tweet this Article
- Add to Facebook

Abstract

References (26)

Related Content

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF | Buy PDF (US$30) | View Cart

This paper traces Einstein's discovery of “the equivalence of mass [m] and energy [E₀].” He came to that splendid insight in 1905 while employed by the Bern Patent Office, at which time he was not an especially ardent reader of physics journals. How then did the young savant, working outside of academia in semi-isolation, realize that these two seemingly disparate concepts were actually “identical”? Until now little attention has been given to exploring the physics that guided his thinking in this remarkable endeavor. That work culminated (1907) in the equation E₀ = mc², where E₀ is “rest energy” and m is “invariant mass.” Despite claims to the contrary, Einstein did not write this equation, or its ambiguous variant,¹ E = mc², in 1905. Furthermore, we will propose a compelling reason for his otherwise inexplicable caution. This paper is meant to help clarify the contemporary literature in the service of an informed pedagogy.