What the HECK is Mass? 

2:15 For most people, in everyday situations, Newtonian mechanics is the best way to look at mass. If we were all forced to use Einstein's equations there would be... mass confusion.

Also, I'm not fat, I'm energetic :)

As an aging physicist, I applaud your videos. As they say, the half-life of a physicist is 2 years - I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew..

Finally I understand why speed increases "mass", heard it loads of times, never got why tho, thanx.

Correction: At 6:00 I say "Leptons" when I _should_ have said "Fermions." Spin-half particles are called Fermions. Leptons are a specific kind of Fermion (specifically the 6 on the far left of the chart). Sorry for the mistake. Update: I managed to use the RU-vid video editor to remove that 2 seconds from the video. Mistake fixed!

Self-esteem Reducer @ 0:17 ... hahaha! Excellent video as usual

Man this guy is a "Physics" saver. Can't appreciate him enough. Thank you so much for clear, easy and non-depressing explanations. Thumbs up sir.

Simply put, this is one of the best channels on youtube. Thanks for making these videos, mate.

This man cured my depression

So, based on your ending we are all suffering from ‘mass’ delusions? Interesting...

my favorite type of mechanics is Lucidian mechanics.... Get it? because Nick Lucid?

You broiled this down to be just a 7+ minute video in which you provided a reasonably clear explanation of what the "stuff" of mass actually is. Very impressive.

you deserve so much more subs

@0:28 epic Newton rap😂😂

How the heck can you fit so much physics into so little time? Excellent job as always.

Richard Feynman is happy.

What? 1%?? I'm gonna sell all my Higgs Field shares and buy all the gluons I can.

I mean, just Awesome. Understood every bit of it and the content was Awesome. Love your creativity and craziness. You surely deserve a million subscribers.

So nicely put into a single video.I see your effort bro.Your videos are getting even better.That bar graph madr sguff so clear.Thanks

Man, you are really good.. This channel is seriously underrated... Keep going man.. It only needs one good viral video to give the necessary boost to the channel... I have almost watched all videos in last one week's time... Thanks for all the research and the explanation...

Your last two videos have been incredible.

Yay! I appear in a video as an "angry commenter"! :D

You are incredible! This is the best explanation of mass I've seen

Great work, great channel! Gives me much inspiration for my own studies. I still have not found anyone else explaining the different subjects nearly as easy as you. Keep on with your awesome work! 😎

“Whats the most massive thing youve ever seen?” * insert fat mama jokes here * 😂😂😂

* Dad jokes clone * This video had a MASSIVE influence on my knowledge 😬

Finally subbed. Because the kinetic energy/relativistic mass explanation actually got me to a new plateau of understanding relativistic concepts. Thank you!

That was a crystal clear explanation on the subject! Your channel is indeed great. I know it already increased quite a bit in popularity but it is not at all as well known as it deserves to be yet...

The best five minutes teacher on the web !! So much good info in such a short time, I defintely raise my thumbs !

Dude! You just made all that SO CLEAR! THANK YOU!

I have watched so many channels of physics but no one explained in depth has you do thanks man really appreciate it

what makes mass interesting are 3 unique properties: 1. it cam move at speeds other than the speed of light 2. it can accelerate 3. it resists acceleration and all those properties derive from mass being a specific meta-construct over different types of energy. PBS SpaceTIme have a very good (imho) video about this where they illustrate matter to be a perfect mirror box, filled with bouncing photons. at rest, the photons apply equal force to all of the box's walls which cancel each other and cause no motion. but while pushed (accelerated), they push back more on the wall being pushed, and thus apply a negative force resisting acceleration. the more mass --> the more photons --> the more resistance.

The most massive thing I've ever seen is my... Love for this channel, keep up the good work

I like the way Nick explains things that are quite difficult to understand. He makes it so interesting and lively. Keep on at it Nick!. I love your videos!

Wow, you cleared all my questions I didn't expect you to cover Higgs field in this, but I'm SO glad u did. THANKS!!

Excellent explanation of mass. This needs to be watched by so many confused physics professors so they can stop causing mass confusion.

"Self-esteem reducer" :DDD Set aside the humor, the video is brilliant. Including the humor makes it awesome.

Gluon field energy!!!! Wow.

I really enjoyed the illustration at 3:42, you wouldn't believe how unbelievably helpful that was, thank you.

WOW. I literally just described tried to explain this in a comment section on PBS SpaceTime's videos with my untrained, limited understanding, and I can't believe how on the money I was! Seriously, between this channel's undergrad level explanations and PBS SpaceTime's graduate level explanations, I'm getting my existential fill of knowledge!

What I love of your videos is that they allow me to unwind all that flawed knowledge that was fist fed to me as an universal truth when I was in highschool. Hopefully someday kids learn this things from kindergarten. Meanwhile I'm liking your vids a lot!

You're videos are perfect blend of humor and knowledge !

Keep improving your content; this channel is going to grow a lot faster in the near future, I wager.

Thanks for what you do, I love watching your explanations. As a passionated guy in mathematics and physics it’s a pleasure studying with your videos.

Thanks for not using imperial units

First time I‘ve been shown this breakdown of the enrgy content of a Proton. Very enlightning. Thank you.

I see you're getting close to 100k. Guess it was inevitable after all, your content is great :)

Now! This is mind numbing! I’ve never heard an explanation this way about this kind of stuff. That’s what makes me coming back for more. Nice SA!

This video + the spacetime channel video about mass= I finally understand what mass is!!!!

Thanks once again amazing explanation!

I get so much info out of your videos. Love them!

Dude your explanation was so clear! You definitely nailed it! Bravo!

Lmao that shade thrown at Don Lincoln of Fermi lab

Whenever someone mentions QM I can't but think how CRAZY but also really cool it is.

I just discovered your channel today and I'm so glad I did! Beyond amazing to watch this as a physics student who ADHD! Kept my attention the entire video! I don't know if you have a video on what I'm about to ask, but I'm asking anyway! Do you think our universe exists within a 4th dimensional singularity? If so, how would it tie in with relativity and quantum mechanics? If you don't believe this, why not? Can't wait to binge watch more videos over the next few weeks!

The best explanation i have seen so far! It finally starts to make sense to me!

As one of many, many former students who used Griffith's Intro to Electrodynamics text, it truly it a self-esteem reducer!

I just love your explanation 😍😍

Amazing description of science as always! Thank you. Just thought I'd mention you should turn yourself partway towards the camera when filming side-by-side dialog between two characters because it feels more inviting to the viewer -- as if we're being included. When two characters talk directly towards each other it can seem unnatural or invasive to the viewer.

The animations really helped! Thanks!

"we'll start with relativity because it's easier," I guess all things are in fact relative if that's the easy part.

Amazing... Amazing song you did there, lol... No acctually the way u relate things together with this simplicity and clarity is amazing... I wish to know whats your degree

LOVE your content! Crazy stuff, crazy simple explained! Crazy!

Nick can you give us physics textbook recommendations, thanks man. P.s we love so much and wish you the very best in everything you do;your constantly enlightening us through your well explained high quality captivating videos,I appreciate and admire you so much. Have a great weekend Nick😁

Me when The Science Asylum posts *STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH!*

Damn, your videos are so entertaining and interesting. Thanks to you, i learned more with this channel than my teachers did

your videos are super fun! you are very funny! you always make me laugh and i like how you choose to talk about really interesting things and simplify every concept in an awesome way

Every time I think I take the next step I see so many more! Thanks for showing me the endless way

Self-Esteem Reducer LMAO!!!!!

I'd pay to see Nick Lucid and Dr. Don Lincoln debate over relativistic mass.

Went to school for physics and I'm watching all of your videos for fun. Excellent work, very entertaining and I'm stealing your jokes too for future use.

Excellent video. You just filled in a gap for me. Thumbs up.

6:00 - error: Quarks are not leptons. Only electrons, muons, tauons and their neutrinos (and their antiparticles) are called leptons. If you want a general term for quarks and leptons, the most precise one is probably "elementary fermions."

2:45 You must have posted that scene because of the link I sent you of Dr.Don saying how relativistic mass isn’t real 😂.

I am constantly amazed by Nick. Explaining complex topics in a way that most people can understand is a rare talent. The most massive thing I've seen is Beatleguise.

*The most massive thing is my appreciation to this channel!*

That gangsta "whooooo" on the background nearly killed me :-)

The Higgs field does not "hover about a nonzero energy", it hovers about a nonzero _value of the field._ What the energy is at that value is irrelevant -- in particle physics you can add and subtract constants to the energy without changing anything. It is not the energy density of the vacuum that is important, especially since we have a very good measurement of that, and it's zero for all subgalactic purposes. Mass in quantum field theory is nothing more than a quadratic contribution to the field potential energy. It's actually really simple: it just means that if the value of the field at a certain point x is f(x), the energy density has a term that looks like m (f(x))² / 2. The various massive fermions have an interaction with the Higgs that is represented by a contribution to the energy which looks like g H(x) (f(x))² / 2, where g is a coupling strength that depends on the particle. If on average the value of the Higgs field is some number H not zero, this just means the particle gets a mass proportional to gH. Also, there's an inaccuracy in the distribution graph around the 6 minute mark. It says "gluon field energy" for almost the whole bar, but really the brunt of the mass in nuclei is (at this level) best thought of as due to the kinetic energies of the constituent quarks. You can see this clearly, for example, in charmonium or bottomonium states (e.g. the infamous J/psi), which are nonrelativistic and only slightly heavier than the sum of the quark masses would indicate (the J/psi weighs 3.1 GeV, and it's made of two charm quarks, each weighing 1.3 GeV. Because of asymptotic freedom, it's not terrible to think of a proton or a neutron as a hollow sphere in which the quarks are free to move and bounce around. This model isn't perfect, but it's pretty good for how simple it is, even though there's no gluon field energy to speak of!

Man I love this channel. In age of simplicity, I'm glad to find "real" stuffs here.

1:40 It's all about Satisfaction. Love the videos. Please keep posting.

The more massive thing I've ever seen? Various possible answers: 1. Nothing. Because all I can see are photons, and photons have no mass. 2. The Earth. Because is the more massive object nearby. 3. The sun. It's even more massive, but usually I don't look at it. 4. Some star. Sometimes I look at them, but saying which one it the more massive...

i wish i had a physics teacher like you in school...

This actually explains a lot! Thank you

Brilliantly explained 👍👍👍

Legit lol'd with the shade you threw at fermi

I would love to see a detailed video about the higgs boson and the higgs field, maybe even about how they discover it at the LHC as long its not too complicated

Once again, wonderful moments of insight. Thank you.

Love it! Good stuff.

Hey Nick at 2:49 did u poked prof.LINCOLN OR WERE U JUST REFFERING TO A PARTICLE PHYSICST'S view on relativistic mass? Either way nice vedio.

I've heard a hundred explanations of mass. This is my favorite. Well done. Thanks for making me feel like I'm drowning in energy.

I really like your bar graphs showing the kinetic energy part of mass, including the gluon part, too.

Excellent. Thank you.

Damn, did you just diss Dr. Lincoln from Fermilab? YOU SHALL PAY!!! Lol jk. It's a great channel though. I'd love to see you there.

btw, you are simply the best, even a 6yo can understand your explanation

I really like your energy, great teacher.

@0:27 NewTON rap about Mass!!!

"When you measure the mass of something, you're measuring it's energy content." Hmmmm - interesting!

This was so helpful. Thanks

Best video about it! Good job!

"So what's the most massive thing you've ever seen?" *raises eyebrows* I may be young, but I got that.