Mass–Energy Equivalence Calculator (E = mc²)
Enter a mass (or, equivalently, an energy) and the tool applies Einstein's 1905 relation E = mc² to compute the other side, expressing the result in joules, kilowatt-hours, TNT equivalent and electron-volts — so you can feel the scale of "1 g fully converted ≈ 21 kt TNT (Hiroshima-class)". c = 299,792,458 m/s (SI-exact), so c² ≈ 8.988 × 10¹⁶ J/kg.
Direction
Common examples (click to load)
Enter a valid non-negative number.
Results
Equivalent energy E
—
- joules (J)
- —
- kilowatt-hours
- —
- TNT equivalent
- —
- mega-electron-volts
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- mass
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c = 299,792,458 m/s (SI-exact); c² ≈ 8.988 × 10¹⁶ J/kg. 1 kt TNT uses the IUPAC value of 4.184 × 10¹² J.
Formula
E = m · c² m = E / c² c = 299,792,458 m/s (SI-exact)
- · c² ≈ 8.987 551 787 × 10¹⁶ J/kg, so a single kilogram of matter is "frozen" at about 9 × 10¹⁶ J — roughly 25 GWh, comparable to the electricity used by a small city for a month.
- · Chemical reactions (gasoline combustion, TNT detonation) release only molecular-bond energies — the mass deficit is around 10⁻⁹ and immeasurable; fission releases about 0.1% of the mass, fusion about 0.7%, and matter–antimatter annihilation 100%.
- · Particle physics quotes masses as energy / c²: electron 0.511 MeV/c², proton 938.272 MeV/c², Higgs boson 125.25 GeV/c² (CODATA 2018 / PDG 2024 review).
- · Constants used: 1 kt TNT = 4.184 × 10¹² J (IUPAC, from 1 cal_th = 4.184 J exact); 1 eV = 1.602 176 634 × 10⁻¹⁹ J (SI-exact); 1 lb = 0.453 592 37 kg (1959 international agreement).
- · Rest energy ≠ total energy. A relativistic particle's total energy is E_total = γmc², where γ is the Lorentz factor; this calculator returns the rest mc².
- · References: Einstein, "Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig?", Annalen der Physik 18 (1905) 639; NIST CODATA 2018; Particle Data Group review of particle physics, 2024 edition.
Frequently asked
Can such a tiny mass really hold that much energy — does this matter in everyday life?
Yes, in principle: 1 g fully converted releases about 9 × 10¹³ J — roughly 21 kt TNT, Hiroshima-class. But "fully converted" requires matter–antimatter annihilation, which we cannot do at scale. Everyday chemical sources (petrol, batteries, food) merely rearrange molecular bonds; the mass deficit is well below 10⁻⁹ and undetectable. Nuclear processes are the rare regime where E=mc² actually does practical work: fission converts roughly 0.1% of the fuel's mass to energy and fusion about 0.7% — enough to power both atomic bombs and the Sun. So E=mc² is conceptual in daily life but central in nuclear engineering and particle physics.
Why do particle physicists quote masses in MeV/c² instead of kilograms?
An electron weighs 9.109 × 10⁻³¹ kg and a proton 1.673 × 10⁻²⁷ kg — wildly inconvenient numbers in SI. Particle physicists invert E = mc² to m = E/c², so saying "electron mass = 0.511 MeV/c²" is identical to "electron rest energy = 0.511 MeV", and the numbers stay in a human-friendly range that matches what colliders actually measure. GeV/c² and TeV/c² are the standard units in LHC / ATLAS / CMS papers. This tool accepts MeV / GeV directly and converts to kg, joules, etc., bridging "particle physics" and "everyday" units.
Where does the energy in a nuclear reaction actually "come from" — does mass really vanish?
Both. In a fission reaction (e.g. ²³⁵U + n → ¹⁴¹Ba + ⁹²Kr + 3n) the total rest mass of the products is slightly smaller than the total rest mass of the reactants; this mass defect Δm reappears via E = Δmc² as the kinetic energy of the fragments, gamma rays and neutrinos. So "mass is conserved" in the classical sense is wrong — rest mass really does decrease; but "energy is conserved" is right, because kinetic + radiation + neutrino energies sum to Δmc². In modern relativity, mass and energy are two faces of one quantity rather than two distinct things.
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