Leumas Physics

Relativistic Kinetic Energy

KE = (1 / sqrt(1 - v^2/c^2) - 1)·m·c^2

What it says

The kinetic energy of a relativistic particle is the difference between its total energy and its rest energy, equal to (gamma - 1)·m·c^2 with c = 299792458 m/s. It reduces to the classical (1/2)·m·v^2 at low speed.

Symbols

SymbolQuantityDimension
KEKinetic energy (J)M L^2 T^-2
mRest mass (kg)M
vSpeed (m/s)L T^-1

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Filed under Relativity · derive through it in the explorer