What transpires between the two states. Assuming nothing is instantaneous, it would seem there should be some gradual change between evergy and light, much like ice to vapor...? Or is there instantaneity?
2006-12-20 07:49:43 · 5 answers · asked by david37863 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The equation only says how much mass is equal to how much energy. It says nothing at all about how you could change from one to the other.
In practice, all such changes are due to nuclear reactions, where atoms either split or combine, and release energy as they do. And it happens very fast, in tiny fractions of a second. I am not even sure they have measured how fast it happens. And such subatomic processes are described by quantum mechanics, which says there is no in between state. It simply goes directly from being mass to being energy with no intermediate step.
2006-12-20 08:29:17 · answer #1 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In fact, the equation states the equivalence between a certain quantity of mass taken to the speed of light so it can liberate a certain amount of energy, that's way in a thermonuclear reaction when you lets say liberates the energy of a pound of uranium you have an intense flow of heat in a very short of time, so it take a short time to convert the stedy mass into a huge amount of energy, and when I say short time I mean in the order of nanoseconds (1 ns = 0.000000001 s) or so.
2006-12-20 15:57:16 · answer #2 · answered by TelefonicosEnConflicto 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. I think you meant "photon @ c". No, there is no transition. A photon is emitted at the speed of light. Since it has absolutely no mass and has some energy, it cannot travel at anything BUT the speed of light, under normal circumstances.
2006-12-20 17:02:14 · answer #3 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
C^2 is "the speed of light squared," but I think it's being used as the universal constant (a number), not to actually represent photons of light.
I don't believe this formula has to do with energy being converted into light, as much as it does with matter (mass) being converted into energy.
2006-12-20 16:01:32 · answer #4 · answered by Sir N. Neti 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question is moot. Light is energy. There is no meaningful difference between the term “light” and “energy” except that light has a frequency that the human eye has evolved to be able to detect.
2006-12-20 16:36:09 · answer #5 · answered by poor_deagol 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋