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According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, the mass m of a body moving with velocity v is

m
=
m
0

1

v
2
c
2
, where
m
0
is the initial mass and c is the speed of light. What happens to m as
v

c

. Why is a left hand limit necessary?

According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, the mass m of a body moving with velocity-example-1
User Ajay A
by
7.6k points

1 Answer

3 votes

As
v \to c^(-),
m \to \infty because the numerator is constant while the denominator approaches 0 from the positive direction.

The left hand limit is necessary because if
v were to approach
c from the right, the denominator wouldn't be defined over the reals.

User Alle
by
8.2k points