What is Mass, Really? Unraveling the Mystery

[8LPF16]

Antonio,

Because it is not an EM wave, I was wondering if it travels at the speed of light?

If not, how does the high energy come into being? (or is this the mystery that you said exists)

Is there a mass value associated with it?


LPF

 

[Antonio Lao]

8LPF16,

EM waves travel at the speed of light because EM waves are light itself. So by saying that they travel at light speed doesn't say anything about the nature of light. the physical value of light speed is the inverse of the square root of the product of the permeability of vacuum and the permitivity of vacuum. And in SI system of unit this is 300,000 km/s. permeability is a property of the magnetic field and permitivity is a property of the electric field.

For light, permitivity and permeability are in a symmetrical configuration as can seen in Maxwell's equations.

For matter, these properties can still be found inside each particle but they are not symmetrical. And that is why matter cannot travel at the speed of light in comparison to light.

But if we say that someone is at the other end of the universe looking at us. He or she will say that we are traveling near the speed of light and we can say the same about this observer at the other end of the universe that he or she is traveling near the speed of light. At this moment while I am typing these words in this forum, you, me and the whole Earth itself is traveling in space at the speed of 18 miles per second in an orbit around the sun. In reality everything in the universe is moving at very high speed. But somehow energy is not directly related to speed. Protons have greater mass than electrons. The mass ratio is 1836 to 1, proton being the heavier one. But relative to the atom, the protons are all at rest, while the electrons are moving around the protons. Proton have 99% of the energy of the atom and it is not moving.

The equation in special relativity saying that mass increase according to speed is the inertial mass equivalent to energy. The modern accelerators know this fact, so the scientists in the lab prefer to accelerate the electrons instead of the protons because it will take them a lot more energy and money to accelerate the protons.
In other accelerators, they have no choice but to accelerate the protons and these are the more expensive machines. The superconducting supercollider would have been such expensive high energy machine.

Antonio

 

[8LPF16]

Antonio,

I am asking " I was wondering if it travels at the speed of light?

If not, how does the high energy come into being? (or is this the mystery that you said exists)

Is there a mass value associated with it?

As pertaining to the cosmic ray. (not EM waves or protons)


LPF

 

[Antonio Lao]

8LPF16,

The cosmic rays relative to us are not traveling at the speed of light. They are mostly high energy protons. The high energy is the kinetic energy due to high speed but not light speed. The mass of the proton is the highest for stable particles. The neutrons is heavier than the protons but they cannot exist in the free state. The free neutrons die and decay into protons, electrons, and neutrinos in about 10 minutes.

The mystery of the cosmic rays is their origin. Scientist don't know where they come from. Some say they are from the center of the galaxy (Milky Way). Some say from beyond out to other galaxies. But one thing for sure, they come from every possible direction.

Antonio

 

[8LPF16]

Antonio,

Thanks - that was exactly what I was wondering.



LPF