When does energy turn into matter?

[streetroc]

You could use light itself. Use of lasers would be the best way to control the testing

That is precisely what they are attempting.

Yep. That's how they discovered (or at least confirmed the existence of) the Higgs-Boson particle. Take a few protons and accelerate them to 99% the speed of light in opposite directions and then smash them into each other head on. For a few millionths of a second you get conditions that mimic those at the moment of the big bang. Some really weird things begin to happen and its almost like the laws of physics no longer apply.

There was actually a huge movement to halt these kind of experiments because there were a lot of scientists who thought that they would create a mini black hole that would swallow up the entire Earth. It sounds crazy but we really had no idea what would happen and anything was possible.

 

[MilSpec308]

Yep. That's how they discovered (or at least confirmed the existence of) the Higgs-Boson particle. Take a few protons and accelerate them to 99% the speed of light in opposite directions and then smash them into each other head on. For a few millionths of a second you get conditions that mimic those at the moment of the big bang. Some really weird things begin to happen and its almost like the laws of physics no longer apply.

There was actually a huge movement to halt these kind of experiments because there were a lot of scientists who thought that they would create a mini black hole that would swallow up the entire Earth. It sounds crazy but we really had no idea what would happen and anything was possible.

I need to start studying again on this, I feel so out of the loop since college

 

[streetroc]

Any success? I know the use of accelerators is fairly new for this type of testing(within the last 10yrs) but haven't really kept up with it.

Yes the large hadron collider became operational in 2008 and since then they have performed many ground breaking experiments. Unfortunately these experiments have led to more questions than answers and what we found has forced us to rewrite many of the "laws" of physics. Basically it seems that cause and effect aren't necessarily linked and matter can appear out of nowhere and disappear just as mysteriously. Whats even weirder is that there were essentially two theories (everything in the universe follows certain rules, and everything in the universe is random and what we think are "rules" are just illusions) and both of these theories could be correct at the same time.

Look for a documentary called "Particle Fever" on netflix. It tells the story of the CERN super collider and the experiments that they did. It will really warp your mind.

 

[renault314]

So is there any way that we could create matter in a super collider? I mean even if it took thousands of watts to create a few subatomic particles think of the implications it could have.

no, you cannot create matter from energy.

Pure energy has no mass, i.e. you cant point two laser beams at each other and expect matter to pop into existence. Photons do not interact with the Higgs field so cannot contain mass. slamming particles into each other and breaking the strong force does release exotic particles or cause some particles to turn into other particles, but the mass/energy remains the same.

 

[MilSpec308]

Yes the large hadron collider became operational in 2008 and since then they have performed many ground breaking experiments. Unfortunately these experiments have led to more questions than answers and what we found has forced us to rewrite many of the "laws" of physics. Basically it seems that cause and effect aren't necessarily linked and matter can appear out of nowhere and disappear just as mysteriously. Whats even weirder is that there were essentially two theories (everything in the universe follows certain rules, and everything in the universe is random and what we think are "rules" are just illusions) and both of these theories could be correct at the same time.

Look for a documentary called "Particle Fever" on netflix. It tells the story of the CERN super collider and the experiments that they did. It will really warp your mind.

I would think that materials/matter really wouldn't have and laws of physics sinces they are motionless and it is us that moves around them. It's not until we come into contact with materials/matter that we create specific laws of physics pertaining to the energey created by the contact of the two.

 

[streetroc]

no, you cannot create matter from energy.

Pure energy has no mass, i.e. you cant point two laser beams at each other and expect matter to pop into existence. Photons do not interact with the Higgs field so cannot contain mass. slamming particles into each other and breaking the strong force does release exotic particles or cause some particles to turn into other particles, but the mass/energy remains the same.

But can you not convert matter into energy via nuclear fission?

 

[Patronus]

Apparently energy is converted to matter almost every day on my couch. All I have to do is sit down and all my energy is drained away, leaving only a slowly expanding ass to show for it. I should donate my couch to science.

 

[MilSpec308]

Apparently energy is converted to matter almost every day on my couch. All I have to do is sit down and all my energy is drained away, leaving only a slowly expanding ass to show for it. I should donate my couch to science.

Bravo sir! Bravo

 

[streetroc]

Apparently energy is converted to matter almost every day on my couch. All I have to do is sit down and all my energy is drained away, leaving only a slowly expanding ass to show for it. I should donate my couch to science.

Ah yes the infamous beer and bacon fatass theory.

 

[SuperMario92]

How does gravity work?