conversion of energy

[murulidhara]

We know that energy can be converted from one form to another. Also mass can be converted to energy. Can energy be converted to mass?

[timo]

In short: Yes, that's possible.

 

[...] Mass can be converted to energy. Can energy be converted to mass?

- Strictly speaking, mass is one of the terms that contribute to energy, hence it cannot be converted into it but already is a part of it. What does happen is that heavy particles (e.g. uranium atoms) can decay into pieces which have a combined mass which is less than the mass of the original particle (the uranium atom). To conserve energy you therefore have to have some other form of energy involved, for example kinetic energy of the decay products. You could call that a conversion from mass to kinetic energy if you want.

 

- The reverse process is also possible in general. You could even say that converting kinetic energy to mass is the main idea of particle accelerators. What you do in particle accelerators is colliding relatively light particles with very high kinetic energies. Sometimes, the product of the collision will be a particle that's heavier than the summed masses of the original particles. In practice, the created heavy particle often will not live long (because it can decay into lighter particles again), but it's sometimes possible to tell from the results of the reaction that a certain heavy particle must have existed. Example: At LHC (a particle accelerator that is due to start running at the end of this year) one of the most important experiments is looking for a particle called "Higgs-Boson". This particle is expected to have a mass of ~ 120 GeV/c². What LHC does is colliding protons with a mass of ~ 1 GeV/c² with very high kinetic energies in the order of 1000 GeV/c². What is hoped for is that these kinetic energies (and the number of collisions) will be sufficient to produce enough Higgs-Bosons so that their decays can be seen and distinguished from the decays of other particles (i.e. that the number of Higgs-Bosons is sufficient to make a statistical statement). If that is possible, then this will be considered a proof for the existance of the Higgs-Boson and we will claim that "we have seen" it - even though it's nothing like what you'd normally put in context with the term "I have seen".

[murulidhara]

Thank u sir for isntant response. I was curious to know the answer

 

Murulidhara.S