🚀 go-pugleaf

> > If you find this thread ininteresting, feel free to not read the
> > following question:
> > 
> > I have basically no background in this field (besides an 8th grade GT
> > science education), but a few days ago, this thread had an interesting
> > discussion about approaching light-speed.  As I recall, it was made
> > apparent that, as an object approaches lightspeed, its mass approaches
> > infinity.  Doesn't the Law of Conservation of Matter prohibit any gain
> > or loss of mass?
> > 
First, the speed of light isn't an absolute constant, it differs for all
materials. It at its largest in vaccuum, it's smaller in (for example)
water.

Second, the Law of Conservation of Matter does not exsist. It's a special
case of the LoCo Energy. The other 4 conservation laws in physics are: LoCo
Momentum, LoCo Impulse-Momentum, LoCo electrical Charge and LoCo of IsoSpin
number. 

Momentum (p) is the product of mass (m) and velocity (v) : p = mv.
Newton's second law, F = m x a where a is the accelaration, follows from
this as:
F = derivative of p as accelaration is the derivative of velocity. It
follows that you have to apply Force to get an increase in momentum.

If in a closed system, a particle of mass M traveling at speed V (and thus
would have a 
momentum P)  The reasoning here is probably that 
 a) the particle can't go any faster then the speed of light
 b) if we keep applying the force, momentum keeps getting larger.
 c) if V approaches C, meaning it can't get any larger, and we still kee
applying that force, 
     momentum keeps growing, but now as an increase in mass, until
infinity.



> > I know that the question just might seem foolishly simple for some, and
> > the answer may just go completely over my head, but could someone
please
> > answer with a simple reply?  Thanks a lot.


> As one equally clueless person to another :) I would say that there is
> no gain of mass, just weight, and I thought that as something approached
> the speed of light time slowed down, and at the speed of light it
> stoped... I didn't hear nething about weight :)
> 
a) weight is subjective, mass isn't. If you hang one litre of water in some
sort of bottle
    on a spring with indicator, it will point to less 'weight' on the moon
then on earth, 
    because gravity on earth is larger.
b) time never stops. It just isn't allways possible to measure it. (see
Einstein)