Scientists have accelerated
particals to 99.995% the speed of light, but they can not get a partical to surpass that speed.
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The easiest reason is that an object gains mass as you accelerate it, according to the theory of Special Relativity." The faster a mass moves, the more massive it becomes. In fact, the amount of mass a speeding object has becomes asymptoticly great around the speed of light. So, if I may colloquially use the term, it would take an infinate amount of energy to accelerate a mass to the speed of light.
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Anyone have any idea why an object gains mass with speed?
Does the kinetic energy 1/2*m*v^2 partly turn into energy, then to mass in E=m*c^2 => m=E/(c^2) ?
Just wondering if anyone had a clever explanation.