Mass in special relativity (including the kinetic energy of the gas) only when it is measured in the center of momentum frame. Just as is the case for single particles, the calculated "rest mass" of such a container of gas does not change when it is in motion, although its "relativistic mass" does change. The container may even be subjected to a force which gives it an overall velocity, or else (equivalently) it may be viewed from an inertial frame in which it has an overall velocity (that is, technically, a frame in which its center of mass has a velocity). In this case,
Mass spectrometry the time they take to reach the detector. If the particles all have the same charge, the kinetic energies tends to be identical, and their velocities, in this case, will depend only on their masses. Ions with a lower mass will reach the detector first. However, in reality, even particles with the same m/z can arrive at different times at the detector, because they have different initial velocities. The initial velocity is not dependent on the mass of the ion what becomes a problem for the TOF-MS. The difference in initial velocity turns into difference in the final velocity. In