Although these two laws have been discovered one after another, people think that they are two unrelated laws, each of which explains different natural laws. Some people even think that the law of immortality of matter is a chemical law, and the law of conservation of energy is a physical law, belonging to different scientific categories.
However, in 1905, a 26-year-old German physicist published five papers in succession in the German journal of physics, revealing the essence and relationship between the law of immortality of matter and the law of conservation of energy from a brand-new height.
The young scientist is Albert Einstein.
Einstein was a Jew. When he was a child, he showed no sign of any genius. He didn't even learn to speak until he was three years old.
At school, Einstein liked reading the Bible very much and sincerely believed that all the stories told in the Bible were true. However, after reading many scientific works, he turned to believe in science and thought that the stories told in the Bible were absurd. In college, Einstein fell in love with physics. He is very diligent and often forgets to eat, because he is too absorbed in physics experiments. Einstein's mathematical attainments are also very deep. He thinks that modern physics can't overcome the difficult problems in physics unless his mind is armed with mathematics.
Einstein likes to think independently. For any theory, he always thinks it is reasonable after some thinking and then accepts it.
After graduating from college, Einstein wanted to be a teacher and engage in scientific research, but because he was Jewish, he was discriminated against and could not stay in school. He was introduced and finally found a job as a clerk in a patent office. There is neither a library nor a laboratory. However, a hard environment can temper a person's will. In that small dormitory in the patent office, Einstein often works late into the night.
1905, Einstein founded the famous "special theory of relativity" [56]. Einstein thought that the mass of matter is a measure of inertia and energy is a measure of motion. Energy and mass are not isolated from each other, but are interrelated and inseparable. The change of the mass of the object will change the energy accordingly; And the change of the energy of the object will change the mass accordingly.
In the special theory of relativity, Einstein put forward the famous formula of mass-energy relationship:
E=mc2
Here e represents the energy of the object, m represents the mass of the object, and c represents the speed of light, that is, 300 thousand kilometers per second.
According to Einstein's theory, if water with a temperature of 1g of 0℃ is heated to 100℃, the water will absorb 100 calories, and the quality of water will increase accordingly. According to the mass-energy relationship, the mass of 1g water increased by 0.0000465g ..
Einstein's theory was initially opposed by many people, and even some famous physicists at that time expressed doubts about this young man's paper. However, with the development of science, a large number of scientific experiments have proved that Einstein's theory is correct. Einstein has become a world-famous scientist and one of the greatest scientists in the world in the 20th century.
Einstein's formula of mass-energy relationship correctly explains all kinds of nuclear reactions: take helium 4 as an example, its nucleus consists of two protons and two neutrons. In principle, the mass of helium 4 nucleus is equal to the sum of the masses of two protons and two neutrons. In fact, this arithmetic doesn't hold water. The mass of helium nucleus is 0.0302 atomic mass unit less than the sum of the mass of two protons and two neutrons [57]! Why is this? Because when two deuterium [dao] nuclei (each deuterium contains 1 proton and 1 neutron) are polymerized into 1 helium 4 nuclei, a large amount of atomic energy is released. When 1 g helium 4 atom is generated, about 27000000000000 joules of atomic energy are released. Because of this, the mass of helium 4 nucleus decreases.
This example vividly shows that when two deuterons are polymerized into 1 helium 4 nucleus, it seems that the mass is not conserved, that is, the mass of helium 4 nucleus is not equal to the sum of the two deuterons. However, calculated by the formula of mass-energy relationship, the mass lost by helium 4 nucleus is exactly equal to the mass reduced by releasing atomic energy during the reaction!
In this way, Einstein expounded the essence of the law of immortality of matter and the law of conservation of energy from a newer height, pointed out the close relationship between these two laws, and deepened human understanding of nature.
There is no mystery in nature that human beings cannot understand; But the mystery of nature is endless. Man will never fully understand nature, and never fully understand its mystery. Only by never being satisfied can we keep moving forward.
The laws of immortality of matter and conservation of energy are great laws of nature. It comes from objective reality and is tested in it. Over the years, these two laws have stood the test of thousands of times, shining with dazzling light like a gem that can withstand wind and rain.
The law of immortality of matter and the law of conservation of energy have become the cornerstones of modern natural science. At the same time, they also dealt a fatal blow to religious idealism. Because matter can't be produced out of thin air and can't be destroyed out of thin air, no one believes in the anti-scientific fallacy that God created everything and God created the world. In addition, it also eloquently shows that there will never be a perpetual motion machine in the world. It is impossible to get energy from nature without labor.
The law exists objectively. Although people can't "create" laws and "transform" laws, they can find them, master them and make use of them. Now, the declaration of immortality of matter and conservation of energy has been mastered by millions of people. People are using the law of immortality of matter and the law of conservation of energy to conquer, transform and uncover the secrets of nature!