Plenary Lecture
The Power of Two, Speed of Light, Force and
Energy and the Universal Gas Constant
Professor Charles A. Long
Department of Biology,
University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point,
tevens Point, Wisconsin 564481,
USA
E mail: CLong@uwsp.edu
Co Author
Professor Siavash H. Sohrab
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Northwestern University,
2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3111,
USA
E mail: s-sohrab@northwestern.edu
Web page: http://www.mech.northwestern.edu/web/people/faculty/sohrab.htm
Abstract:
The application of c2
in relation to mass and energy had an interesting history. The Pythagorean
theorem is involved. Even in basic Newtonian physics the studies of retarded
speed (in collisions) suggest multiplication of sums. When p = mv,
and v = c, the term m c2 appears, which was one
relation of momentum written by Poincaré. He also related mass and the speed of
light to a complementary electromagnetic force. De Pretto, by means of no
offered calculations, proposed energy equal to the product of mass and the speed
of light squared. This was precisely the famous equation. He applied it
hypothetically into a supposed material ether. He certainly considered mass as
comprised of a great amount of latent heat, and mentioned how small the
particles of ethereal matter must be to have escaped notice. He implied matter
was miniscule in relation to its latent energy. Einstein also recognized the
compact and enormous energy in mass, writing out the famous equation thereby
establishing its popularity. By algebraic manipulations of sums and products,
even common denominators, the square of light speed c became commonplace
in physics, never related to the Euclidian concept, although it could be and
could have been. A possible way that De Pretto could have arrived at his number
8338 is suggested and his number is identified as the modified universal gas
constant R = 8338 Joules/(kgmol-K).