Please help me. I can't percieve the E=mc^2...?

Don't feel bad. Most people don't. And that's not a slur on the average person at all - even most students of physics don't really grasp the implications.

I will cheerfully admit that I only have glimpsed small portions of the meaning - from a rather intensive Nuclear Power/Engineering course in college.

If you are *studying* physics, this is initially presented as a basic, (simple-appearing) equation for you to know - and to use in a few relatively basic physics calculations.

The... it becomes a more intensive, and mind-numbing concept to wrap your head around (this is where you may be - - its the limit of where I understood as an engineer).

And then... then... if you are a physicist, you can expect to eventually develop an even more deep, even more intensive understanding of the meanings and implications. (I only saw this far and shining in the distance...)

But... for normal life, you really don;t need to understand it all that well - just know that it means a *lot* of energy can be potentially derived from small amounts of mass...

Imagine converting a lump of matter into energy, the equation is Energy equals mass times the speed of light, times the speed of light. even a seemingly insignificant amount of matter, once converted can yield massive amounts of energy.

Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW7DW9NIO9M

The only thing that isn't explained in detail in the video is how the expression for the relativistic Doppler effect on energy E comes about.

Okay... try this:

Remember the bomb that wiped out much of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945...?

About 650 *milligrams* of material were converted to energy. That's about 0.023 ounces.

Didn't quit get your question --but it means- mass x speed of light"2