I might just be stupid because math is not my strong suit, but it seems like the fact that metric units are able to convert between mass and energy so cleanly is astounding. Especially since the metric system was invented so long before relativity, meaning these units were obviously not designed with this in mind.
What’s am I missing here? Is it possible to write an equivalent equation for imperial units?
In: Mathematics
You are missing the concept of base vs derived units.
There are base units/parameters like mass, distance, time, temperature, count, ect.
And then derived units/parameters like force = mass × accelerated (second time derivative of distance).
However, units like kg•m/s^2 are unwieldy so we condense them into parameter specific units like Newtons and Joules.
Formulas like E = mc^2 or Pe = m•g•h work because the units on each side are required to agree. If you try using E = mc^2 you need to use m in kg and c in m/s to get an output in J. If you instead used lbs and ft/s then your energy will be for lbs(mass)•ft/s which doesn’t cleanly convert to a more sensible energy unit.
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