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AlisonArulia
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Explaining E=M C^2 to 14 year olds ?
Hi,
I have been asked to give a "very" brief talk to to some 14 year old kids on the subject E=M C^2. I can write this all down using formula and it makes sense. But to "say" what this means at the right level, I am having BIG problems. I can only talk for a few minutes. So I need to keep it very simple. I really want the kids to come away with an understanding.
I realize that this may be way below the level that most people on this forum will be used to (talking to 14 year olds) but I would appreciate any help here. - specifically the end ... what on Earth do a say here with our writing anything down. OMG.
Many thanks
Here is what I have prepared at the moment.
__________________
E=M C^2
What does this mean?
It is (very basically) a formula which shows that energy and mass are the same thing in other words the amount of Energy that some Matter is equivalent to and vise versa.
E = Energy
From the Greek word Energeia meaning activity. This is a measure of the amount of work that can performed by a force. There are many different forms of energy such as Potential (stored), Thermal (heat), Kinetic (motion), Electromagnetic (e.g. Microwaves, Light, Gamma Rays, Microwaves, etc), Elastic (distortion), Etc, you should remember that the words in brackets are single words used to describe, sometimes, very complex forces.
Note - Any type of energy can be transformed into another type, but the total amount of energy stays the same.
M = Matter
This is anything that has Volume and Mass
There are many textbooks that still give a definition of mass as anything you can see or touch. This is not true – you can see light but it is not matter. Matter can be best described as anything that takes up space. This can be and size from a single atom (or even part of an atom) upwards.
C = The speed of light (important – see next section regarding C squared)
The letter C is used to denote the speed of light in mathematical calculations (from the Latin word celeritas meaning swift). Light travels, in a vacuum, at just under Three Hundred Thousand km per second (299,792,458m per second).
^2 = Squared
This means to multiply a number by itself. “But” in the formula E=M C^2, the C^2 does “not” mean a number multiplied by itself (regardless of how many books tell you it is). C and C^2 are two totally different things (C is a number and the other - C^2, isn’t). The C refers to the speed of light as a Unit (call it One Light Unit if you want or whatever you want) that’s just “one” unit, and One times One = One. So you do NOT take the speed of speed of light and multiply it by itself (as 1 x 1 = 1).
So, to put it all together –
The total “Energy” (E) of some Matter (M) is equal to its speed (C), squared (^2).
So if you take a ball and drop it from a window it will make a depression in the ground where it lands. If you double to height (and so the ball’s speed) the hole will be four times deeper. You have doubled the height (2 x the original) and speed of the ball and 2 x 2 = 4. So you get 4 times as much energy to make the depression in the ground.
Still doesn't sound very clear - any ideas please
Hi,
I have been asked to give a "very" brief talk to to some 14 year old kids on the subject E=M C^2. I can write this all down using formula and it makes sense. But to "say" what this means at the right level, I am having BIG problems. I can only talk for a few minutes. So I need to keep it very simple. I really want the kids to come away with an understanding.
I realize that this may be way below the level that most people on this forum will be used to (talking to 14 year olds) but I would appreciate any help here. - specifically the end ... what on Earth do a say here with our writing anything down. OMG.
Many thanks
Here is what I have prepared at the moment.
__________________
E=M C^2
What does this mean?
It is (very basically) a formula which shows that energy and mass are the same thing in other words the amount of Energy that some Matter is equivalent to and vise versa.
E = Energy
From the Greek word Energeia meaning activity. This is a measure of the amount of work that can performed by a force. There are many different forms of energy such as Potential (stored), Thermal (heat), Kinetic (motion), Electromagnetic (e.g. Microwaves, Light, Gamma Rays, Microwaves, etc), Elastic (distortion), Etc, you should remember that the words in brackets are single words used to describe, sometimes, very complex forces.
Note - Any type of energy can be transformed into another type, but the total amount of energy stays the same.
M = Matter
This is anything that has Volume and Mass
There are many textbooks that still give a definition of mass as anything you can see or touch. This is not true – you can see light but it is not matter. Matter can be best described as anything that takes up space. This can be and size from a single atom (or even part of an atom) upwards.
C = The speed of light (important – see next section regarding C squared)
The letter C is used to denote the speed of light in mathematical calculations (from the Latin word celeritas meaning swift). Light travels, in a vacuum, at just under Three Hundred Thousand km per second (299,792,458m per second).
^2 = Squared
This means to multiply a number by itself. “But” in the formula E=M C^2, the C^2 does “not” mean a number multiplied by itself (regardless of how many books tell you it is). C and C^2 are two totally different things (C is a number and the other - C^2, isn’t). The C refers to the speed of light as a Unit (call it One Light Unit if you want or whatever you want) that’s just “one” unit, and One times One = One. So you do NOT take the speed of speed of light and multiply it by itself (as 1 x 1 = 1).
So, to put it all together –
The total “Energy” (E) of some Matter (M) is equal to its speed (C), squared (^2).
So if you take a ball and drop it from a window it will make a depression in the ground where it lands. If you double to height (and so the ball’s speed) the hole will be four times deeper. You have doubled the height (2 x the original) and speed of the ball and 2 x 2 = 4. So you get 4 times as much energy to make the depression in the ground.
Still doesn't sound very clear - any ideas please
Last edited: