Does AdSense equal cash?

The answer is yes! Can you make thousands easily without lifting a finger? No. This is pretty much the break-down.
I know this breakdown given by Adsense does not make sense but the more content you have well placed on the net, equals more clicks. The more clicks you have, the better the ad content and the higher amount you get paid. If you are somewhat a social hermitt then this and most other online money making sites are not for you for this requires social networking. If you like, its sort of like a pyramid, you read my blog and look at the ads available, I get paid-Simple!
Have I made a ton of money? no, But if you are ok with $20-30 a week for just maintaining a blog (writing once a week at least)then go for it.

This is the info copied and pasted from Adsense.com
Effective cost-per-thousand impressions (eCPM) is a useful way to compare revenue across different channels and advertising programs. Essentially, effective CPM represents your estimated earnings for every 1000 impressions you receive.
Effective CPM doesn't represent how much you have actually earned -- rather, it's calculated by dividing your estimated earnings by the number of page impressions, then multiplying by 1000. For example, if you earned an estimated $0.15 from 25 page impressions, then your page eCPM would equal ($0.15 / 25) * 1000, or $6.00. If you earned an estimated $180 from 45,000 ad impressions, your ad eCPM would equal ($180 / 45,000) * 1000, or $4.00.

Source: http://ang1stokes.blogspot.com/2010/07/does-adsense-equal-cash.html