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Suppose you have 1 kg of lead, can the whole thing be converted into energy so that no mass remains? Or does the conversion stop at the protons/neutrons?

Bernhard
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Ray Kay
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  • The mass of 1kg of lead is the same as the mass of its equivalent mass-energy. As the famous physicist Gertrude (Ein)Stein once wrote: "1kg is 1kg is 1kg". As for the total conversion into energy (by which you probably mean photons?), yes, it can be done. All you need is 1kg of anti-lead. If you don't have anti-lead, I am afraid, that nuclear physics will only get you as far down as iron nuclei, after that fission will stop. So it's not even (mostly) protons and neutrons. – CuriousOne Sep 06 '14 at 01:18
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    @CuriousOne 1kg of anti-lead wouldn't convert the whole thing to photons. You'd end up making a huge shower of particles and when the whole explosion finished a ton of energy would have gone into making neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. – Brandon Enright Sep 06 '14 at 01:52
  • What do you mean by "does it stop at the protons/neutrons"? Taking lead apart into protons and neutrons would cost energy, not create it. Can you elaborate a bit? – Floris Sep 06 '14 at 01:59
  • @BrandoEnright: you are correct, I was oversimplifying. when I shouldn't have. – CuriousOne Sep 06 '14 at 01:59
  • @Floris: I think the OP still has naive ideas about nuclear physics. Do we have an article that explains nuclear binding energy really well? And maybe another one about conservation laws in particle physics? – CuriousOne Sep 06 '14 at 02:02
  • @CuriousOne - I am not sure. There are some bona fide particle physicists on this site - I would defer to them... – Floris Sep 06 '14 at 02:15
  • @Floris: It seems to me, there is a lot of material like in http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/68145/, but that might already be too detailed? – CuriousOne Sep 06 '14 at 02:19
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    We have some good questions on the available nuclear energy. I'm afraid I can't muster the patience that John R. exhibits to answer variation after variation of these questions. Suffice it to repeat that there is no such thing as "pure" or "absolute" energy. Energy takes all kinds of forms but it is always a kind of energy. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Sep 06 '14 at 02:21
  • @CuriousOne - I think that your link is an excellent starting point for understanding the issues at play here. – Floris Sep 06 '14 at 02:22
  • Possible duplicates: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/47417/2451 , http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/71051/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Sep 06 '14 at 06:39

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