What is the amount of energy given off when an electron and a positron anhilalate?
Asked by: Bill Devenport
Answer
Using 9 x 10-31 Kg. as the mass of each particle, and knowing that their combined mass
will be totally converted to energy, you can use Einstein's famous E = mc2 (where c = the
speed of light in vacuum = 3 x 108 m/sec) to determine the total energy output of the electron/positron annihilation:
E = (mass of electron + mass of positron) x (speed of light in m/sec)2
E = 2 x (9 x 10-31)kg x (9 x 1016)m2/sec2
E = 1.6 x 10-13 kg m2/sec2 = 1.6 x 10-13 Joules
Answered by: Paul Walorski, B.A. Physics, Part-time Physics Instructor
'There is no inductive method which could lead to the fundamental concepts of physics. Failure to understand this fact constituted the basic philosophical error of so many investigators of the nineteenth century.'