Question

Before the advent of the theory of special relativity, what was the presumption regarding mass and energy in a reaction?

Options

• Mass and energy were conserved jointly as a single quantity

• Mass could be freely converted into kinetic energy

• Mass and energy were conserved separately in a reaction

• Energy could be converted into mass but not the reverse

Answer 1

Prior to special relativity, it was presumed that mass and energy were conserved separately in a reaction. Einstein showed that mass is another form of energy, unifying the two conservation laws into one.