Scientists from NIST, MIT, and ILL have conducted the most precise direct test ever of Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2. Using an instrument called GAMS4, they measured the angle at which gamma rays are diffracted by two identical crystals made of atoms separated by a known distance. By comparing NIST/ILL measurements of energy emitted by silicon and sulfur atoms and MIT measurements of the mass of the same atoms, the scientists found that E differs from mc2 by at most 0.0000004, or four-tenths of 1 part in 1 million. This result is “consistent with equality” and is 55 times more accurate than the previous best direct test of Einstein’s formula. The experiment was described in a paper titled “A direct test of E = mc2” published in the December 22, 2005, issue of Nature.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2005/12/einstein-was-right-again-experiments-confirm-e-mc2
Keywords: gamma, neutron, energy, mass, crystals
