Mass can be converted into its equivalent energy by multiplying it by mass and square of the speed of light. The formula for calculating energy from the mass is E = mc² where m is the mass of the body and c is the speed of light.

The theory that mass can be converted into energy was developed by Albert Einstein in 1905.

What is Mass?

Mass is the quantity or amount of matter present in anything like living or nonliving objects. Everything is made up of matter so mass is the measure of matter.

• SI unit of mass is Kilogram with the symbol (Kg).
• Mass can neither be created nor be destroyed but it can be transformed from one state/form to another state/form.
• Mass does not change with the change in place of the object.

What is Energy?

Energy is the ability to perform any work on a given system or the environment. Everything in this universe has some form of energy that can neither be created nor destroyed but can be transferred from one body to another.

• Energy is used to change the state of the environment by performing some work.
• SI unit of energy is Joule.

Converting Mass into Energy

According to Einstein’s theory of special relativity mass and energy are related to each other and one can be converted to the other by using the equation

E = mc²

Here in the above equation, E represents the Energy and m represents the mass of the object and c is the speed of light which is taken as 299,792,458  m/second.

How to Convert Mass into Energy

With the help of E = mc2 formula

Example: Let’s take 1 Kg of mass and convert it into energy.

According to the equation E = mc²

E = 1 × (299,792,458 )²

E = 89875517873681764 Joule

Sample Problems

Question 1: What is the amount of energy we get from 10 Kg of mass?

Solution:

According to the equation E = mc²

E = 10 × (299,792,458 )²

E = 898755178736817640 Joule

Question 2: How many Kilograms of the matter is needed to provide 179755558755455184 Joule of energy?

Solution:

According to the equation E = mc²

m = E/(c)²

m = 179755558755455184/(299,792,458 )²

m = 2 Kg

So we need 2 Kg of mass.

Question 3: Find the value of the speed of light if the mass is 4 Kg and energy is 359502071494727056 joule?

Solution:

Using equation E = mc² the value of c can be calculated as:

c² = E/m

c = √E/m

c = √359502071494727056/4

c = 299,792,458 

Hence speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s

Question 4: What is the amount of energy we get from 8 g of mass?

Solution:

Firstly convert gram to Kilogram so 8 gram = 0.008 kilogram 

According to the equation E = mc²

E = 0.008×(299,792,458 )²

E = 719004142989454 Joule

Question 5: How many grams of the matter are needed to provide 899518242189454 Joule of energy?

Solution:

According to the equation E = mc²

m = E/(c)²

m = 179755558755455184/(299,792,458)²

m = 0.010 Kg

now converting it to grams so 0.010 Kg = 10 g

So we need 10 g of mass.