View source for E=mc²

==English==
{{was wotd|2024|March|14}}

===Etymology===
[[File:Irrhausen-Wartehalle.jpg|thumb|A [[sculpture#Noun|sculpture]] of {{w|Albert Einstein}} and his [[mass#Noun|mass]]–[[energy]] [[equivalence#Noun|equivalence]] [[formula]] <math>E = mc^2</math> in [[Irrhausen]], [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], [[Germany]].]]

After the formula of [[mass#Noun|mass]]–[[energy]] [[equivalence#Noun|equivalence]], an important principle discovered by the [[German#Adjective|German]]-born [[theoretical physicist]] {{w|Albert Einstein}} (1879–1955).

The formula entered the popular consciousness after it was included in the opening pages of the {{w|Smyth Report}} (1945), a widely read document that explained the United States’ nuclear weapons program to the public for the first time. Its appearance alongside a portrait of the (already well known) Einstein on a ''[[w:Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine cover the following year consolidated its fame.

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/ˈiː ˌiːkwəlz ɛm siː ˈskwɛːd/|a=RP}}
* {{IPA|en|/ˈi ˌikwəlz ɛm si ˈskwɛɹd/|a=GA,Canada}}
* {{audio|en|En-us-E%3Dmc2.ogg|a=GA}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɛə(ɹ)d|s=6}}

===Noun===
{{en-noun|-}}

# {{lb|en|idiomatic|informal}} A [[formulation]] or [[realization]] that [[capture#Verb|captures]] a [[profound]] [[thought#Noun|thought]] in [[simple#Adjective|simple]] [[term#Noun|terms]].
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Mary Lynn Damhorst; Kimberly A. Miller-Spillman; Susan O. Michelman|title=The Meanings of Dress|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=[[w:Fairchild Fashion Media|Fairchild Publications]]|year=1999|page=351|isbn=978-1-56367-165-4|passage="Beauty isn't about looking young." OK, so it's not '''E=mc²''' or even [[w:Isaac Newton|[Isaac] Newton]]'s apple. But coming as it does from a top cosmetics company, it does represent an attitude readjustment that makes [[w:Paul the Apostle|Saul]]'s change of heart on the road to Damascus look like a passing fancy.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=[[w:Neil Henry (journalist)|Neil Henry]]|chapter=Tenth Man Classic|title=Pearl’s Secret: A Black Man’s Search for His White Family|series={{w|The George Gund Foundation}} Imprint in African American Studies|location=Berkeley&#59; Los Angeles, Calif.&#59; London|publisher=w:University of California Press|year=2001|section=part 2 (Discovery)|page=282|pageurl=https://archive.org/details/pearlssecretblac00henr/page/282/mode/1up|isbn=978-0-520-22257-1|passage=What counted most through the generations, far more than any other factor, regardless of our race, was how we treated those we loved and how well we loved. That seemed the transcendent lesson or moral that my search had revealed. And it held true whether the figure was my mother or Fredda on one side of our family tree, or Rita or Anna Beaumont on the other. Simple as it was, it was my '''E = mc²'''.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Jeff Byles|chapter=Fragmentation at a Price|title=Rubble: Unearthing the History of Demolition|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=w:Harmony Books|year=2005|page=70|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=ds9gI9eTK6cC&pg=PT59|isbn=978-0-307-42154-8|passage=What {{w|Jacques Derrida}} is to literature, [Mark] Loizeaux is to [building] demolition: He's the philosopher king of demolition. {{...}} Loizeaux's battle plan remains formidably elegant, the '''E = MC²''' of demolition.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=[[w:Stephen Batchelor (author)|Stephen Batchelor]]|chapter=Embrace Suffering|title=Confession of a Buddhist Atheist|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=w:Spiegel & Grau|year=2010|page=154|pageurl=https://archive.org/details/confessionofbudd0000batc_q6m9/page/154/mode/1up|isbn=978-0-385-52706-4|passage=If conditioned arising was the '''e = mc²''' of Gotama [''i.e.'', [[w:The Buddha|Siddhartha Gautama]]]'s vision, the eightfold path was his first move in translating that axiom from an abstract principle into a civilizing force.}}

===Further reading===
* {{pedia|mass–energy equivalence}}

===Anagrams===
* {{anagrams|en|a=cem|CME|ECM|MEC|cem|mec}}

==French==
{{rfv|fr}}

===Pronunciation===
* {{fr-IPA|e égale‿ème cé deux}}

===Phrase===
{{fr-phrase}}

# {{l|en|2=E=mc²}}

{{C|fr|Relativity}}