First Evening: Energy and Particles
A special kind of energetic darkness made the material of the universe. To understand how pure energy can make particles, we need to know how much energy it takes to make a particle. Finally we will be ready to look at another confirmation.
The Energy of Particles
How much energy does it take to make a subatomic particle? Once we know the particle’s mass, we multiply the mass by the square of the speed of light to find the latent energy, using Einstein’s famous formula, E=mc².
The mass of an electron is 910.938 188 micro-micro-micro-micro-micrograms.
There are prefixes for combining repetitions of “micro.” A micro-microgram is a picogram, a micro-picogram is an attogram, and a micro-attogram is a yoctogram. However we promised not to use technical language. Even if we did use technical language, there is no prefix yet established for a micro-yoctogram. We could invent one and say that the mass of an electron is 910.938 188 “itsy-bitsy-grams.” Is that better or worse than awkward repetitions?
Protons and neutrons are nucleons, the major components of nuclei. Nucleons are almost 2000 times heavier than electrons.
The proton mass is 1.672 621 58 micro-micro-micro-micrograms. The neutron mass is slightly heavier, 1.674 927 16 micro-micro-micro-micrograms.
Appendix A collects physical constants that are explained in the text. It also shows an easier way of writing large and small numbers for people who understand mathematical notation. Appendix B corrects the erroneous idea that the Bible says that the Earth doesn’t move.
The mass of an electron is 910.938 188 micro-micro-micro-micro-micrograms.
There are prefixes for combining repetitions of “micro.” A micro-microgram is a picogram, a micro-picogram is an attogram, and a micro-attogram is a yoctogram. However we promised not to use technical language. Even if we did use technical language, there is no prefix yet established for a micro-yoctogram. We could invent one and say that the mass of an electron is 910.938 188 “itsy-bitsy-grams.” Is that better or worse than awkward repetitions?
Protons and neutrons are nucleons, the major components of nuclei. Nucleons are almost 2000 times heavier than electrons.
The proton mass is 1.672 621 58 micro-micro-micro-micrograms. The neutron mass is slightly heavier, 1.674 927 16 micro-micro-micro-micrograms.
Appendix A collects physical constants that are explained in the text. It also shows an easier way of writing large and small numbers for people who understand mathematical notation. Appendix B corrects the erroneous idea that the Bible says that the Earth doesn’t move.