What Happens to Mass and Energy as Objects Approach the Speed of Light?

[Leonardo Sidis]

I'm reading this book called Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku and in it he explains some complex theories and discoveries without including the math behind it (lucky for me, I probably wouldn't understand it yet anyway). I like it a lot but there are some things I don't fully grasp. He says that as something approaches the speed of light, the energy from its movement is converted into matter and it becomes heavier, eventually approaching infinite mass, and infinite gravity. Why is this? Do photons have mass? Why doesn't light have infinite gravity? Is it possible to understand these things without the math at my level? ...sorry, I'm 14, forgive my ignorance...

 

[RussT]

Leonardo;

Your post sounds very mature for a 14 year old!

Yes, it is possible to get a good understanding of all of this cosmology 'stuff' without the math, but starting with String "M" Theory is probably not the best place to start. The Multiverse and extra dimensional stuff can quickly become very confusing and in my opinion uses too much sci-fi type explanations.

Photons (Light) are massless, so can travel at the speed of light without gaining mass.

Hoe this helps a little.

RussT

 

[Leonardo Sidis]

Leonardo;
Your post sounds very mature for a 14 year old!
Yes, it is possible to get a good understanding of all of this cosmology 'stuff' without the math, but starting with String "M" Theory is probably not the best place to start. The Multiverse and extra dimensional stuff can quickly become very confusing and in my opinion uses too much sci-fi type explanations.
Photons (Light) are massless, so can travel at the speed of light without gaining mass.
Hoe this helps a little.
RussT

Thanks for the help! Do you know of any good introductory books to string theory and things like that?

 

[RussT]

Leonardo;

Just Google everything.

Use your "Search" to find all the web stuff and the books...it's all there!

http://www.bautforum.com/showthread.php?t=22865

This is another forum and this page has tons of sites to click on.

RussT

 

[Bob3141592]

... He says that as something approaches the speed of light, the energy from its movement is converted into matter ...

Good question from such a young teenager. I'm going to just offer one minor correction, and hope it helps rather than confuses things.
Lot's of people think energy is the same thing as matter because of E=mc^2. But that m doesn't stand for "matter," it stands for mass. Mass is only one attribute of matter, like charge. Just as some things have charge as others don't, some things have mass and other don't.

 

[Leonardo Sidis]

Thanks! That makes more sense. So when an object approaches the speed of light, the energy from its movement is converted into mass. But what matter has no mass? And are photons considered matter?