Rethink of Concept Mass Based on Experiments of Chicken Embryo Egg
Mass is an attribute of physical matter in general. However, whether mass varies during death is an interesting problem. In the manuscript, experiments about chicken embryo eggs were design to check it. Chicken embryo egg was sealed in a cup with 440ml, and monitored the mass variation during death process. The results show that for embryos of more than 14 days old, there were two turns on the mass time curve. The slope of line between two turns was larger than the one of the other, which means that extra mass loss happened between two turns. Experiments also show that for the chicken embryo of poor health, or early stage, mass loss was less than the health or late stage one. For the embryo of less than 14 days old, there was not clearly the second turn on the mass curve. Several kinds of experiments were designed and performed to confirm that instead of measuring error or gases permeation, the turns on the mass curve were a phenomenon related to death of embryo. For the embryo of more than 14 days old, the process of extra mass loss was most likely process of death, starting from the first turn, and ending at the second turn. The experiments hint that mass loss is a fundamental phenomenon in nature when a living being loses life; in addition to physical matter, mass is also a feature of life, which provides a new perspective to understand concept mass.