E=MC2 ... Let's Have Little Fun!

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by the Official A to Z Challenge Website. My name is Stephen Tremp and I post here every 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month with something fun, different, and exciting in the world of science.

Today I thought we’d have a little fun with a Mass to Energy Calculator and get a peek into Einstein’s famous equation E=mc². According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, matter and energy are simply different forms of the same thing. Energy can be turned into matter, and matter back into energy. Pretty cool stuff. But wait, there's more!

Energy is equal to matter times the speed of light squared. We don't have space to go into what this means, but think that multiplying a small unit of mass by 186,000 miles a second or 700 million miles an hour. It doesn't take an Einstein to make the connection this is a very powerful number.

Example: If you consider all the energy in the full kilogram of water, which contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms, Einstein's formula tells us the amount of energy this mass would be equivalent to is the total energy close to 10 million gallons of gasoline. Now that's a lot of energy!

Fun Facts: Check out this Mass To Energy Calculator (you’ll have to scroll down a bit) to show the amount of energy if a particular quantity of matter were completely converted to energy. For example, one pound of mass has the potential to release almost 10 megatons of TNT. 100 pounds = 974 megatons of TNT (a megaton is one million tons).

Take a few moments and plug is some numbers. You can quickly begin to see the awesome and amazing power available in our world.

Question: Should we pursue methods to convert mass to energy more efficiently (current methods are coal, oil, nuclear plants)? Or do recent events in Japan tell us we should proceed with caution or stop for a while?

If you feel this blog is worthy, please select the appropriate icon below such as Twitter. And as always, thanks for stopping by and supporting the A to Z Challenge Website throughout the year!

Stephen Tremp, author of BREAKTHROUGH and OPENING, blogs at Breakthrough Blogs. Stop by and say hello. And feel free to Tweet this post if you think it is worthy.

Post A-to-Z Road Trip Check-in (Rest Stop)

Hello out there in Blog-Land!  Hopefully, everyone has recovered in full from the A-to-Z Challenge and is busy enjoying their summer (or winter, for those of you in the southern hemisphere).  

We're well aware that summer is a busy time, so the Post A-to-Z Road Trip is meant to be nice and laid back.  We're a couple weeks in, though, so how about a quick check-in to see if anyone's making any progress?  Even if you've visited one blog, that's progress!  Everyone's got to stop at a rest stop on a road trip, so this is rest stop number one.  Time to kick the tires, check the oil and clean those bugs off the windshield.

I'm not going to lie.  I'm still trying to catch up with the comments on my blog.  School's out, my kids are home, and we are keeping busy, which is wonderful.  Also, I started a new novel!  Yay!  On top of that, Tina and I are both participating in BuNoWriMo (thus starting a new novel!)  So I am, admittedly, busy, and I know I'm not the only one.  I have gotten through a couple blogs when I've had a little bit of time here or there, and I'm still delighted with new blogs I'm finding.  However, it's a slow process.

So...check in!  Let us know if you've been road tripping.  Have you discovered any blogs you'd like to share?  Feel free to do so in the comments.  Also, we'd love to hear how June is treating you.  Anything interesting or fun to report?  Any big plans? 

Now pass me another pina colada and the map; I need to figure out where I'm heading to next.

Your Post A-to-Z Road Trip Hostesses,

Shannon L.
The Warrior Muse

&

Tina D.
Life is Good

The Art of Seeing the Invisible

Badge design by Ada Z from Collagepodge.com

         I had intended to go into depth about my proposal presented in last week's post, but have since decided to put this on hold.  There were so many wildly varying interpretations in the comments and from input I received elsewhere that I came to some realizations that I won't explain at this time.   I thank all of you who provided input in last week's comment section and a special thanks to those who answered my request for some evaluation of what they thought was going on in last week's post and the ensuing comments.

        As I mentioned in one of my comment replies, I will present a simplified outline of my proposal to see if that offers any clarification.

Here is the process as I envision it:

• Simple registration for screening and classification purposes.
• Registrants are collected into one master list through which all screened links can be accessed.
• Sub-lists that are derived from master list and divided into categories will appear in separate locations for those who prefer more definition in what blogs are.
• Due to the better organization, list can be accessed according to alphabetical, topical, audience rating, and other methods of approach.

      

        Some of you felt that my suggested method would create too much work for the administrators.  There were also mentions related to the complexity of maintaining multiple lists.   The point of my proposal is to address these concerns.   The primary work would be programming the system that would automatically administer the list.   Once the system were in place the list, the categorization, the screening, and the cleaning would mostly manage itself if done correctly, with minimal overseeing by administrators.  My goal is more efficiency, greater ease of use, and less maintenance.

        That's my vision at least.   I think some of you saw what I was seeing or something near to it.   It's something that will require more thought.   I continue to be open to questions and suggestions.  Ideas?

"Create your future from your future, not your past.”

— Werner Erhard

Please Be sure to check out Tossing It Out for a big announcement.

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