How to convert kinetic energy into mass: an experiment with ping-pong balls

Modern physics considers two types of energy. Kinetic energy describes the motion of an object, while potential energy tells us about the ability to create motion through interactions between objects.

Regarding mass, there are also two issues. First, mass indicates the potential energy itself, which we do not know. We can only measure the stationary position of the body and its motion in one reference frame with given coordinates.

Relativistic effects arise precisely because we are comparing individual coordinate systems, trying to denote a common computational model. That is, merging two systems into one makes calculations simpler.

The second problem is related to Albert Einstein's famous equation E=mc². Here, the inertia (inertial mass) of an object is determined by its internal energy content.

Let's conduct a hypothetical experiment demonstrating the transformation of inertia into kinetic energy. It's challenging to implement practically, but let's outline a possible scenario.

So, imagine we have a very large box filled with ideal ping-pong balls. These balls bounce between the walls of the box. The balls and the box itself are physically "ideal," meaning the collision of a ball with the inner wall of the box can be considered energy-conserving.

Now, try pushing the box to accelerate it. You'll notice resistance. The wall you're pushing against will come into contact with the balls, causing them to accelerate in the opposite direction.

This requires additional efforts, external energy. The balls on the opposite wall of the box will rebound with slightly less force, meaning the state of rest fundamentally differs from motion.

The faster the ping-pong balls bounce, the harder it is to push the box containing them.

Now, let's do something else! Open a hole on one side of the box. Release a bunch of balls from it. The box accelerates in the opposite direction. We push the box with fewer balls.

What do we see? The inertia of the box decreases. The box loses part of its inertial mass. Where did it go? To the new system - the box of balls. The inertial mass has turned into kinetic energy!

Such an experiment can be conducted in reverse. If the box "catches" several fast ping-pong balls.

The problem is that within one system, there always exists a "buffering" inertial potential that conserves the system. An external "pusher" is always needed to create a different reference system and coordinate system, and energy attains a different "stable" state.

In the "real world," we don't have ideal ping-pong balls or ideal elastic collisions inside ideal boxes. But we use particle accelerators, where quantum elements serve as ping-pong balls.

These accelerators regularly create new particles that are usually not found in nature. We merely manage the kinetic energy of particles and interpret the results obtained as "particle mass".

However, the conversion of kinetic energy into mass does not mean the creation of particles as such. We only interpret the experiment, trying to explain physical processes. The same Higgs boson is literally the conversion of kinetic energy into the rest mass of particles produced in accelerators. That is, into potential energy, which at the macro-object level manifests itself gravitationally for unknown reasons.