please describe...?

Question

describe the relative energy release per gram of material of nuclear fusion of fission reactions versus those of chemical reactions. What does this have to do with E=mc2

Answer 1

Einstien's equation E = mc² describes the inter-convertability of mass and energy. His theory is that, matter moving fast enough becomes indistinguishable from energy.

So let's compare a chemical reaction with a nuclear reaction:

If I burn one mole of hydrogen to form water, the reaction releases 68.3174 kilocalories of energy per mole of hydrogen.

If I convert that same mole of hydrogen into pure energy (E=mc²), I get 2.15E10 kilocalories of energy per mole. That's 21,500,000,000 kilocalories per mole!!!

Thermonuclear bombs only convert a tiny fraction of the hydrogen contained within into energy -- and you can see how much of a difference that makes from a chemical-explosive bomb . . .