Variable-mass system events. The following derivation is for a body that is gaining mass (accretion). A body of time-varying mass "m" moves at a velocity v at an initial time "t". In the same instant, a particle of mass dm moves with velocity u. The initial momentum can be written as Now at a time "t" + d"t", let both the main body and the particle accrete into a body of velocity v + dv. Thus the new momentum of the system can be written as Since d"m"dv is the product of two small values, it can be ignored, meaning during d"t"
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