Spacetime as a redshift and analyze the effect in terms of scenarios (b) or (d). In classical mechanics, the state of motion of a particle is characterized by its mass and its velocity. Linear momentum, the product of a particle's mass and velocity, is a vector quantity, possessing the same direction as the velocity: p = "mv". It is a "conserved" quantity, meaning that if a closed system is not affected by external forces, its total linear momentum cannot change. In relativistic mechanics, the momentum vector is extended to four dimensions. Added to the momentum vector is a time component that
Mass in special relativity Mass in special relativity Mass in special relativity incorporates the general understandings from the laws of motion of special relativity along with its concept of mass–energy equivalence. The word "mass" is given two meanings in special relativity: one ("rest" or "invariant mass", and its equivalent "rest energy") is an invariant quantity which is the same for all observers in all reference frames; the other ("relativistic mass" or the equivalent "total energy" of the body) is dependent on the velocity of the observer. The term "relativistic mass" tends not to be used in particle and nuclear physics and is often avoided