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Originally Posted by supersix2
The energy in E = mc^2 is the nuclear strong force or the force that holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom. This is the energy that is released in nuclear reaction which give you the idea of the strength of that force.
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You're talking about a specific case. Just because popular books often illustrate E=mc^2 by discussing nuclear reactions does not mean that the equation only relates to that. It is much more general.
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The funny thing is, we have no idea how any of these forces (gravity, electromagnetic, strong, and weak) actually work. [snip]
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We know an amazing amount about how they work. To even be able to categorize things like that is a major acheivement. It means that we've classified essentially all observed interactions in terms of only three basic types: gravitational, electroweak (they're actually one force), and strong. Each of these has a precise and elegant mathematical formulation. To me, it is almost absurd that such a simple model can describe all that it does.
Of course physics has some axioms that must simply be accepted, but my point is that there are really very few of these. Their number is also steadily decreasing.
By the way, your description of the weak force is incorrect. The strong force is responsible for binding both quarks and nucleons.