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From: peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.research,net.misc
Subject: Re: Newman's Energy Machine (2)
Message-ID: <416@graffiti.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 6-Nov-85 13:22:55 EST
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Posted: Wed Nov  6 13:22:55 1985
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>     Since this seems to be a juicy new topic, I will go ahead and bite.
> 
>  >                                .... since the potential energy stored
>  > in something CONTRIBUTES TO ITS RESTMASS.
> 
>     It is unclear to me how potential energy contributes to an object's rest
>  mass.  All of the cases known to me, small though that may be, show that
>  mechanical potential energy is due solely to the location of an object within
>  some force field.

I believe they meant to say "...since the potential energy stored in A SYSTEM
contributes to its rest mass".

If the system is the earth & a ball, then moving the ball further away would
increase the mass of the system some small amount. Be a bit hard to measure,
though.

Of course this is based on a straightforward interpretation of relativity,
and I could be full of it. If you think about taking that ball and dropping
it, then letting the system return to equilibrium, you have to explain where
the "extra" thermal energy (that would also increase the mass) came from.
-- 
Name: Peter da Silva
Graphic: `-_-'
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