Mass-energy equivalence (E = mc²)
Equivalencia masa-energía (E = mc²)
- Date
- 1905 · confidence high
- Place
- Bern, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Albert Einstein
- People
- 👤 Albert Einstein1879–1955
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
The mass of a body is a measure of its energy content: a small mass is equivalent to an enormous amount of energy. It explains the energy of radioactivity and of the stars and founds nuclear energetics.
Published as a three-page addendum in September 1905; the form E = mc² appears in 1907.
What it led to
- Nuclear energy (fission and fusion)
- Explanation of the Sun's brightness
- Creation and annihilation of particles
- Nuclear mass defect
Built on
- Special relativity1905
- Electromagnetic energy (Poincaré, Hasenöhrl)
Made possible
- Stellar nuclear fusion (Bethe)1939
- Nuclear reactor (Chicago Pile-1)1942
- Atomic bomb1945
- Positron emission tomography (PET)1975
- Positron emission tomography (annihilation)