A quantitative measure of the resistance of an object to attempts to change its velocity. Hence mass is a measure of inertia (from the Latin vis inertia, the force of inaction.) |
Gravitational Mass, which appears in the Law of gravitation (universal), has been shown to be proportional to Inertial Mass to better than one part per trillion. [See the Eotvos experiment page in Wikipedia, much more accurately performed at the University of Washington - Physical Review Letters 100, 041101 (2008).] This equality is assumed by the Principle of Equivalence and is a cornerstone of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. This theory indicates that all forms of energy have mass via the relationship E=mc2.