Cosmology Old and New

Author(s): G R Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 96

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COSMOLOGY OLD AND NEW
"But the theory of relativity gives a very different answer. Energy is not weightless, because it has a definite mass... the deductions from the theory of relativity can be confirmed in a certain indirect way and that the outcome of experiment is definitely in favour of that theory... The quantity of heat required to convert one thousand tons of water entirely into steam would weight not quite 1/30 of a gram. It is because the mass which energy represents is so small that energy was for so long regarded as a weightless fluid.
The energy of radiation of the sun also represents a certain mass. Millions of tons of energy are scattered every second through the universe."152
After pointing out the exact mathematical relation between mass and energy, viz.,
Energy = mass X (velocity of light)2,
the same author proceeds to say that "every mass is a seat of energy! Not only has energy mass but conversely also every mass has energy... To sum up briefly: the differentiation between energy and mass is discarded. Every mass represents a store of enormous energy and each energy possesses mass, albeit very small.”
The author of the Restless Universe Professor Max Born has treated this subject beautifully. He says:
"According to this theory (theory of relativity) mass and energy are essentially the same.
153
When a man shoots with a gun he feels a recoil. The bullet flies forwards, so the gun must move backwards-(in a similar way)...emission of light in a certain direction leads to a recoil of the body emitting it. For example, we may take the searchlight and provide it with a shutter. If we open this for an instant, a beam of light rays shoots out. Then the searchlight is subject to a recoil like that of the gun.
This is really so is not just a theory but an experimental
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fact.
This experiment clearly proves that light possesses weight just as a bullet does. Since light is not like a single shot but a
152. The World in Modern Science, p. 77.
153. According to Jaina view the matter and energy are different phases of the same entity called pudgala for which the search is going on all over the scientific world (See pages 47-48 ante under the heading 'A Note on pudgala'). It is an experimental fact today that when an electron meets a position their entire mass is converted into gamma-ray energy.
154. Restless Universe, p. 83-86.