Energy = Mass times the speed of light squared.. Why does the Speed of light need to be Squared?
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Anonymous2008-03-21 22:02
Force is defined as dp/dt. In special relativity momentum is defined as gamma times mass times velocity. Energy is the integral of force with respect to distance. If you integrate (dp/dt) dr with the relativistic equation for momentum (Requires integration by parts) then you get that the total energy of a particle is equal to it's kinetic energy, plus a second term. The second term being mc^2 or it's rest mass.