Does energy have mass?

Question

What brought this question to my mind was a documentary on asteroids striking earth. One of the solutions was to detonate a nuclear bomb close to an asteroid which would change it's course. I guess if it's on a documentary, it's feasible, but I was just wondering if the blast itself would have that much effect without an atmosphere to create a shockwave.

Answer 1

To my point of view, energy alone does not have mass.  But when energy gets compressed down to a certain point, the energy will be 'locked' up and a particle and an anti-particle will form.  When the energy is 'locked' up, it becomes mass.  I believe that the particles that makes atoms (which makes everyday objects) are actually energy locked up as form of particles.  When a nuclear bomb is detoniated, some of the 'locked' up energy that makes particles are freed up and can escape as radiation.  A small mass can turn into a massive amount of energy.  When a bomb explodes in space, the radiation (transverse waves) will go very far in a vacuum.  Longitudinal waves (including shock waves) require a medium (like air, water, ground) to travel.  

Answer 2

Ok energey in a way does not have mass. If energy is in the form of electircity, it will not have any mass just as a beem of light does not have any mass.

If you are infering to the the Big Bang in a way it does.

Energy and mass are sorta alike.

Answer 3

I recently read on the internet that how something vibrates, determines whether or not if it has mass, or not. So things like wood, people, etc. have mass because they vibrate on one frequency, while light, etc. does not have mass because they vibrate on a different frequency.

Still confusing for me too. But it sounds like we are getting closer all the time to answering this one.

Answer 4

energy is mass, einstein proved that a small amount of mass translates to a huge amount of energy with E=mc2 ( squared ) the energy itself would spread out and be absorbed into space as it disipated. In a vacuum, the debris from the leftover material ( no matter what type of bomb it is there will be debris nuclear or otherwise) will either be pulled together by gravity if they have high mass, or drift away till they are captured by some larger object's gravitational field.

Answer 5

Energy and mass "is" one.