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Mass–energy equivalence
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Rest energy
Meaning
The energy an object has simply by having mass, measured in its own rest frame (joules).
Its job in this equation
What the mass is equivalent to.
Picture it
A bank balance held in a different currency.
Read it, progressively
1. Gist
Mass is a very concentrated form of energy.
What it does not establish
It does not say mass is "converted" into energy in some extra process: the rest energy was always part of the system’s total energy. It does not describe moving objects without the momentum term. It does not explain why particles have the masses they do.