4 ms·

Whatever non-ordinary matter would be, E=mc² should apply as well. That number is an upper bound, I don't believe any process is known to convert matter into a

by rmu09 8y ago

Whatever non-ordinary matter would be, E=mc² should apply as well. That number is an upper bound, I don't believe any process is known to convert matter into a useable form of energy with reasonable efficiency and yield. Neither fusion nor fission count as they only "convert"/release a tiny fraction.

InclinedPlane 8y ago
Some processes are highly efficient in that conversion, accretion disks around black holes can convert 10-40% of rest-energy (mass) into "pure" energy. Annihilation is 100% efficient. My point is that energy density doesn't make a bomb, it's also necessary to have a mechanism for the spontaneous and rapid release of that energy. Ordinary matter has a very high energy density (the highest), but as you point out it takes special processes to release that energy. Similarly, I can have a soda can filled with Lithium-Deuteride (a fusion fuel) and that can have a very high energy content (terajoules per kilogram) but it's not a bomb unless it's connected to a system that can actually release the fusion energy in that fuel all at once. It's not something that could even remotely happen spontaneously without those other components that make it a bomb. Another example would be Potassium. Naturally occurring Potassium contains about 400 megajoules of radioactive energy per kilogram, which is about 100x as much as TNT. Even in the form of, say, a Potassium salt that would avoid the issue of the chemical energy of Potassium metal, that material would still have enormous energy density. And there's nothing you need to do for the energy release to happen, it'll happen automatically. But it's still not a bomb because it will take over a billion years for just half of that energy to be released, and there's no known way to substantially speed up that release of energy (without inputting even more energy) to make a bomb.

by rmu09 8y ago

InclinedPlane 8y ago

Some processes are highly efficient in that conversion, accretion disks around black holes can convert 10-40% of rest-energy (mass) into "pure" energy. Annihilation is 100% efficient. My point is that energy density doesn't make a bomb, it's also necessary to have a mechanism for the spontaneous and rapid release of that energy. Ordinary matter has a very high energy density (the highest), but as you point out it takes special processes to release that energy. Similarly, I can have a soda can filled with Lithium-Deuteride (a fusion fuel) and that can have a very high energy content (terajoules per kilogram) but it's not a bomb unless it's connected to a system that can actually release the fusion energy in that fuel all at once. It's not something that could even remotely happen spontaneously without those other components that make it a bomb. Another example would be Potassium. Naturally occurring Potassium contains about 400 megajoules of radioactive energy per kilogram, which is about 100x as much as TNT. Even in the form of, say, a Potassium salt that would avoid the issue of the chemical energy of Potassium metal, that material would still have enormous energy density. And there's nothing you need to do for the energy release to happen, it'll happen automatically. But it's still not a bomb because it will take over a billion years for just half of that energy to be released, and there's no known way to substantially speed up that release of energy (without inputting even more energy) to make a bomb.