Have you ever thought about the power of a paper clip? If you could convert the
mass of a paper clip entirely to energy, how big a punch would it pack?
Einstein's most famous equation, E = mc2, indicates the calculation is
straightforward: the energy released would be equivalent to the mass times the
speed of light squared. Yet the answer is far from intuitive because, for one
thing, the speed of light is immense—670 million mph—making the
speed of light squared almost inconceivable. In this quiz, discover the answer
and explore other examples of what scientists call mass-energy
equivalence.—Susan K. Lewis
