MASSASA PROPERTY

Mass plays a role in two aspects of a particle's behavior, governing

both its inercia and its gravity. The inercia of a body measures its
resistance to changes in its motion. Thus, a body that has large inercia
will _ tend to keep moving at its present velocity unless it is subjected
to large forces. The gravity of a parcicle is a universal attraction it exerts
on other particles. The larger the mass of a particle, the larger its
gravity. Each kind of elementary particle has a definite value for
its mass. The values for different particles are generally different.
They don't appear to fit into any simple pattern. Many physicists
have tried to explain the observed values of elementary particle
masses, but nobody has succeeded. (More precisely, nobody has
succeeded in convincing anybody else that they've succeeded).
Some of the most importam particles, including photons, gluons, and
gravitons, have zero mass. This does not mean that they have no inertia, or
that they exert no gravity. ln fact, they do. Let me explain that paradox,
which in my experience often troubles thoughtful learners.
Mass contributes to inertia and gravity, but it is not the only factor. ln
particular, a moving particle has more inertia, and exerts more gravity, than a
particle at rest. Indeed, the theory of relativity teaches us that it is energy,
not mass, that controls inertia and gravity. For bodies at rest, energy
and mass are proportional, according to Einstein's famous formula E = mc2,
so in that case we can express inertia and gravity using either one,
interchangeably. When bodies move slowly, relative to the speed of light, E
= me- remains true to a good approximation. ln that case, we don't make a
big mistake if we say that inertia and gravity are proportional to mass.
For bodies whose speed is dose to the speed of light, however, E = mc2 is
way off. lt's not that Einstein blundered, but that a more general and
sophisticated version of the formula, also devised by Einstein, should
be used. The more general formula shows that photons carry energy,
and thus that they have inertia and exert gravity, despite having zero mass.

Frank Wilczek - in Fundamentals - Ten Keys to Reality. p. 231