if you think about charges on atoms: a neutron and a proton are basically made of the same stuff. theyre made of 3 quarks so theyre mass should be nearly identical. however its observed that a neutron is slightly heavier than a proton. thats because the work required to suspend an electric field across the particle is observed as a 'loss of mass' from the particle. basically some of the mass from the particle is converted into energy that is used to create the electric field. because this mass is 'lost' in the proton, the mass of the neutron is heavier

it's hard to see how matter IS energy, as we don't readily see most energy, other than light, and when we do it behaves nothing like physical objects.

also you say "an object HAS kinetic energy, but how does it turn INTO energy". i think that's kind of a misinterpretation because an object's mass doesn't really turn into kinetic energy, the energy is transferred as the object is accelerating, from whatever source acted on it.

and no this isnt a matter of perception lol. energy is not some sort of mystical supernatural magic. yeah you can calculate the energy equivalent of an object. its called E=mc²



well it's not the fact that theyre moving so fast that causes the explosive energy...the speed they are moving allows them to split atoms. the energy released from splitting an atom is what causes such a violent explosion

This post was edited by dothe on Mar 21 2011 10:05pm

e=mc^2

mind=blown.


Nuclear fission is proof of this. By decomposing uranium into it products, the overall mass changes (this voids the law of conservation of mass). The tiny (very minute) amount of mass lost is where the energy of the reaction came from.

This post was edited by Exx on Mar 21 2011 09:59pm

e=mc^2

E=energy

M=mass

C= the speed of light

its hard to wrap your mind around because we dont KNOW exactly how it works. Einstein worked out the equation to figure how much energy is present in an object and its simple math to find out what kind of mass could be made with so much energy.

but if we really understood how it worked then we would be well on our way to not only converting mass into energy (this would mean any mass) as well as converting energy into matter.

http://www.btinternet.com/~j.doyle/SR/Emc2/Basics.htm

This post was edited by lone500 on Mar 21 2011 10:12pm

my advice is to steer clear of lone500

why is that? you jelly?

A much more simplistic example would be, a log converted into fire, by burning the log you are creating radiant energy. Think as the element you are converting, (either mass to energy or vise-versa) as "fuel"

The how this happens its not within our grasp yet.

This post was edited by hotdogski on Mar 22 2011 01:07am

although the vast majority of the log will remain matter in the form of molecules in gas form, this is a pretty good and simple analogy

We don't know perfectly how matter IS energy yet, you won't find a simple explanation because it isn't exactly fully understood. You will probably have to wait for string theory to finish.

This post was edited by Thor123422 on Mar 22 2011 01:44am