28 1 Introduction to Modern Physics
5. After dividing (1.43) by (2mv) we obtain the following expression
c2
υ
dm dt
= m
dυ dt
+ υ
dm dt
. (1.44)
The expression for the kinetic energy EK in (1.40) using (1.44) can be written as follows:
EK = c2
xf
xi 1
v
dm dt
dx = c2
m
mo dm = mc2 −moc2 = E −Eo , (1.45)
since dx/dt is the particle velocity υ by definition and the masses m and mo correspond to particle positions xi and xf, respectively.
1.20.4 Total Relativistic E as a Function of Momentum p
The expression for the total relativistic energy E as a function of the rela-tivistic momentum p is as follows:
E =E2
o + p2c2 . (1.46)
Equation (1.46) is obtained from Einstein’s expression for the relativistic mass given in (1.31) as follows:
1. Square the relationship for the relativistic mass m of (1.31), multiply the result by c4 and rearrange the terms to obtain m2c4 −m2c2υ2 = m2
oc4 . (1.47)
2. Equation (1.47) can be written as
E2 −p2c2 = E2
o (1.48)
or
E =E2
o + p2c2 , (1.49)
using the common relativistic relationships for the total energy E, rest energy Eo and momentum p, i.e., E = mc2, Eo = moc2, andp = mυ.
The following two relationships are also often used in relativistic mechanics:
1. The particle momentum p using (1.45) and (1.49) for the kinetic energy
EK and total energy E, respectively, can be expressed as
p =
1
cE2 −E2
o =
1
cE2
K +2EKEo . (1.50)
2. The particle speed υ is, in terms of its total energy E and momentum p, given as
υ c
=
mυc mc2 =
pc
E
. (1.51)