Undergrad Does Special Relativity Affect Mass?

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Mass is not relative in the context of special relativity; the concept of "relativistic mass" has been largely abandoned. Instead, mass remains constant regardless of an object's speed. Energy calculations, such as E = ymc^2, indicate that while energy increases with speed, mass does not change. The speed of light is a constant, and all observers experience their own mass consistently. Therefore, traveling at high speeds does not make an object feel more massive.
The_Baron
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Is mass relative? does the faster you go change your mass? Because according to the Energy calculations E = ymc^2 at speed and mc^2 and since the speed of light is constant, does that mean that mass changes?

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The_Baron said:
Is mass relative? does the faster you go change your mass? Because according to the Energy calculations E = ymc^2 at speed and mc^2 and since the speed of light is constant, does that mean that mass changes?
No. You are thinking of the LONG deprecated concept of "relativistic mass". You, right now as you read this, are traveling at very close to the speed of light (relative to a particle in the CERN accelerator). Did knowing that make you feel more massive?
 
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MOVING CLOCKS In this section, we show that clocks moving at high speeds run slowly. We construct a clock, called a light clock, using a stick of proper lenght ##L_0##, and two mirrors. The two mirrors face each other, and a pulse of light bounces back and forth betweem them. Each time the light pulse strikes one of the mirrors, say the lower mirror, the clock is said to tick. Between successive ticks the light pulse travels a distance ##2L_0## in the proper reference of frame of the clock...

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