3 ms·
It's all changing within the system (USB drive), so to an outside observer there is no change in mass.
by viklove 7y ago
It's all changing within the system (USB drive), so to an outside observer there is no change in mass.
- nomel 7y agoA system with more potential energy will have more mass [1]. For example, a compressed spring has more mass than a spring at rest, and will take more energy, from an external force, to get to the same velocity. Same with a spinning disk. So unless there's a nice balancing act, with no potential energy change from moving electrons around within the drive, the mass of the drive will change, negligibly, from the potential energy change of the gates. So, the real mass loss of a USB drive is electrons out in addition to potential energy loss from the floating gates. So it's, the world smallest double whammy! [1] https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/274329/does-potential-energy-of-an-object-increases-its-relativistic-mass/274680 https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/274329/does-pote...