Modern Conveniences (UPDATED)

     Have you been pondering how to blow up the world, but keep laying the question aside because adequate means are just too hard to acquire? Well, perhaps your time has come!

     Ten ounces of Antimatter in a conveniently recyclable can! That’s 283.5 grams of Antimatter. When Antimatter meets “regular” matter, the two mutually annihilate, releasing all their potential energy (stored in the form of mass) as kinetic energy. Now, Saint Albert has told us that:

E == mc2

     …where:

  • m is the mass in kilograms to be converted to energy,
  • c is the speed of light in meters per second,
  • E is the energy released, in joules.

     Therefore, a single gram of matter (.001 kilogram) converted wholly to energy (multiply by 9*1016 meters2/second2) will release 9*1013 (90,000,000,000,000) joules of energy. If we apply the standard conversion factor:

4.184 * 109 joules == 1 ton of TNT

     …that tells us that 1 gram of wholly converted matter releases 21.51 kilotons of energy – and therefore of explosive power. From our 283.5 grams of conveniently canned Antimatter, we will therefore release an explosion equivalent to 6,136.95 kilotons of TNT, or approximately 6.1 megatons.

     But wait: there’s more! We mustn’t neglect the 283.5 grams of “regular” matter that were annihilated along with the Antimatter. So that explosion is really 12.2 megatons, which puts it among the larger H-Bombs in the American nuclear arsenal. It would be more than large enough to destroy New York City completely.

     A case – twenty-four cans – of Brooklyn Superhero Supply’s Antimatter would therefore suffice to end all life on Earth, and possibly shatter the planet to flinders into the bargain. Now that’s world-ending convenience!

     Get yours while supplies last!

     UPDATE: Reader Tregonsee has informed me that I made a scaling error in going from kilotons to megatons. Corrected above. [FWP]

5 comments

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    • James L Horn on July 17, 2021 at 10:29 AM

    Of course, the moment the matter – antimatter reaction starts would separate the two. Not to mention the energy cost needed to create that much. Fun to think about, though! 

    • tregonsee314 on July 17, 2021 at 12:11 PM

    Sir I believe you have a conversion error 1 Megaton = 1000 Kilotons so 6137 (rounded up)  is 6137/1000 megatons or 6.137 Megatons (doubled due to matter converted) 12.2 Megatons, less than Castle Bravo (~15 Megatons), but definitely nothing to sneeze at. A nice calculator may be found here with accompanying calculations (https://www.edwardmuller.com/index.php?Page=calculator )
     
     

    1. Ah! You are correct. I moved the decimal point one place too few to the left! I will correct it.

  1. Why schlep when the Sweet Asteroid of Death is due this afternoon?

    • Univ of Saigon 68 on July 19, 2021 at 10:19 AM

    I found this on sale at Acme Supply, when bought in a manager’s special with an anvil, rocket powered roller skates, and bird seed.

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