Can't convert energy to matter?

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Dardedar
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Can't convert energy to matter?

Post by Dardedar »

Is this true? (I say no)

"Matter can be converted to energy, but at this time energy is never converted back to matter(only at the big bang was energy converted to matter). Thus matter is destroyed as matter, forever. Last time I checked my physics cheat sheet, all matter will eventually decay into energy."
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kwlyon
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Re: Can't convert energy to matter?

Post by kwlyon »

Darrel wrote:Is this true? (I say no)

"Matter can be converted to energy, but at this time energy is never converted back to matter(only at the big bang was energy converted to matter). Thus matter is destroyed as matter, forever. Last time I checked my physics cheat sheet, all matter will eventually decay into energy."
This is most certainly utter baloney. My advice to whoever this is...throw away the cheat sheet and put the effort into understanding. Physics isn't about equations and cheat sheets rather it is about seeking an actual understanding of how the universe works. As it turns out, nature has been quite kind in that our universe seems to be understandable...however it is complicated enough that one cannot reach any level of understanding via referencing a "cheat sheet". This has become evident to me as I prepare for my last qualification exams. We are allowed a "cheat sheet". I have been building one as I have worked old problems and come across things I fear I might not be able to re-derive in suitable time for an examination situation. I am not so sure the cheat sheet is not a curse rather than blessing.

At any rate, do a quick google search of Feynman Diagrams and you will get more than a few examples of the exchanges between matter and energy. We assume that matter is never created or destroyed in chemistry...it is a false assumption however as the mass discrepancy is relatively minute in a chemical reaction, we get away with neglecting it. Certain high energy conditions increase the likelihood of matter creation. This is how Hawking radiation works. Matter is literally formed from the high energy conditions surrounding the event horizon of a black hole. We routinely slam particles together in accelerators and create matter. This is why all the nut monkeys have their panties in a bunch over the LHC. They believe we may create matter in the form of microscopic black holes that will...DA DA DAAAAAA! Consume the Planet!!!! One can only hope.

On an incredibly minute scale we create and destroy matter every day though generally not in measurable amounts. Remember Einstien's famous E=MC^2? Ever spend much time thinking about what it means? Evidently every system, in addition to any kinetic energy, has an energy proportional to its rest mass. Everyone seems to know that this is how we obtain energy from nuclear fusion or fission processes. Fewer people know that, ultimately, this is how we obtain energy from ANY system. As it turns out, mass is apparently a measure of how much energy is "stored" in a system.

Examples...
Nuclear fusion:
The Mass of one Heavy Hydrogen atom is 3.3445EE-27kg
The Mass of two Heavy Hydrogen atoms is therefor 6.68899EE-27kg

Upon fusing two heavy Hydrogen atoms together you have yourself a right happy Helium atom weighing in at 6.64648EE-27kg. (This is not exactly how the process of making helium typically works, usually you start with four normal hydrogen atoms, still if you can slam 'em together hard enough, you can make this happen and the results will be exactly the same with less bookkeeping)

Note the interesting discrepancy in the masses of two heavy hydrogen's and the mass of a Helium-4 Atom....The fused atom is less massive! WTF! (Wow! That's Fantastic!!!) Plug in the difference of these two masses into good ol' E=MC^2 and you will find out why pure hydrogen fusion is the holy grail of power production. That mass was converted into energy...lots of it. Well, okay, it may not seem like a terrible lot of energy...but keep in mind this was obtained from a SINGLE FUSION EVENT! And yes...the process works just fine in reverse. Shoot a nasty hot particle at this atom and you may just impart enough energy into the system to bust the nucleus apart. If it happens to split back into the original pieces you will find that the sum of the masses is again 6.68899EE-27kg. You have created mass...it came from the kinetic energy of the particle you plowed into it.

This seems to be an absolute nature of the universe. The more energy that is "confined" in a system the more massive the system is. Thus an electronically excited atom is quite literally more massive than an identical atom in it's ground state. In any chemical reaction that gives off energy, there is a corresponding (though incredibly small) loss of mass. Here is a disturbing one...A COMPRESSED STEEL SPRING is actually more massive than a relaxed spring! Here is the rub....the mass increase is very small unless there is an INSANE increase in energy...remember you have that factor of C^2 in there. This makes the increase in mass for classical objects (or even relatively large quantum systems) who's rest mass is already absurdly large quite undetectable. This effect has, however, been exceedingly well verified in the quantum world. It seems as though there have been similar observations in more macroscopic systems however I am not sure...does anyone know?

Hope this was helpful. I am not up to full form yet so I may come back to check myself here! However I am NOT on sudafed for the first time in over a week. The good news is...I'm gonna live! And hopefully as an added benefit this will prove readable.

--Kevin

P.S. Pass this question on to WHarter...As it turns out there is a lot of wave mechanics at the heart of all of this. He would surely love the opportunity to delve into it and would do a better job than my humble attempt here!
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Re: Can't convert energy to matter?

Post by Savonarola »

kwlyon wrote: [snip]
Another damn good explanation from another U of A physicist, and one that non-scientists can easily understand. Hot damn, what are they putting in the water there in the physics building and where can I get some?
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Dardedar
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Re: Can't convert energy to matter?

Post by Dardedar »

Excellent answer, thanks for that! I gave the fellow the link. It's a guy Doug and I have roasted over the years on Farrell Till's Bible errancy list.
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kwlyon
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Re: Can't convert energy to matter?

Post by kwlyon »

Savonarola wrote:what are they putting in the water there in the physics building and where can I get some?
Sometimes Taster's Choice instant Coffee...the kind in the individual little packets. When you add it to hot water it bubbles quite ominously. For maximum effectiveness you must remember the magic words--"Double double toil and trouble, microwave turn and coffee cup bubble." More often Bigelow brand Jasmine Green Tea. This one is probably better for you and does not require any magic words. You can get them both at wall-mart.
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