Re: Psionic help

> ...........................  For a given amount of antimatter (or
> contra-terrene matter) m, the reaction optimally converts a mass of 2m
> (the antimatter plus an equivalent amount of normal, or terrene matter)
> into energy.  The relationship is shown mathematically with the famous
> equation:
>                 2
>           E = mc                                   (1)
>
> where E is the energy produced, m is the mass, and c is the speed of light
> in a vacuum (approximately 3e8 m/s).  As you can see, even a small amount
> of mass represents a *huge* (at least, in human terms) amount of energy.
>
>      In the above example of 1 mg of antimatter, the reaction would
> involve 2 mg of mass (don't forget your normal matter), so the energy is
> (using cgs):
>
>           E = (2e-3) * (3e10)
>             = 6e7 ergs
>
>      Not bad, but not catastophic, either.  Don't forget, in the example

The TOTAL CONVERSION statement is correct, and the formula is correct,
but the numbers plugged into it are WAY off.  The Speed-of-Light (3e8 m/s)
squared is 9e16, not 3e10 (remember, (x^y)^z = (x^z)^(y*z)).  Therefore,
using MKS units:

        E = (2e-3) * (9e16)
          = 1.8e14 joules (= 1.8e21 ergs, since 1 joule=1e7 ergs)

not 6e7 ergs.  And since that amount of energy would make plasma of a
Plankwell-class battleship, well, if that's not catastrophic, then I don't
want to be around for something that is :-).  Seriously, according to The
Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th Ed., 1987), in Vol. 16, page 520, Column 1,
the total energy (including radiation) generated by the 20-kiloton bomb
dropped on Hiroshima was about 1e13 joules (1e7 Kw-Hrs.).  If we assume
(based on that data) that there are 5e12 joules released per kiloton of
nuclear detonation (1e13/20), and that any increase is linear, then the
total conversion reaction postulated above would be roughly eqaul to a
200 kiloton nuclear detonation.

Not in MY backyard, thank you very much!

Later,

        Mark F. Cook

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