What is the difference between MeV/c2 and MeV?

[Deepak247]

what is the difference between MeV/c2 and MeV?

Lets say that proton has 938 MeV/c2 mass, does it mean that it can be converted into 938 MeV worth of energy?

 

[silmaril89]

Well, MeV/c^2 is a unit of mass, and MeV is a unit of energy. The rest energy of a particle can be computed in units of MeV by multiplying it's rest mass in units of MeV/c^2 by c^2. So, yes if the proton's mass is 938 MeV/c^2 and it annihilates with an anti-proton, the proton will release 938 MeV of energy and the anti-proton will release 938 MeV of energy as well.