Matter Into Energy

In northern Alabama some of our electricity comes from the Brown’s Ferry nuclear plant near Decatur, Alabama. This is the world’s largest nuclear energy plant. Its fuel is uranium. When just one gram of Uranium 235 fissions, it creates energy equivalent to 20 tons of TNT. One gram is about what a small birthday candle weighs. The candle, if burned, could hardly warm a cup of coffee.

This little one-gram candle, however, if converted 100% into energy, according to Einstein’s equation, could produce the energy of 20,000 tons of TNT or 26.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity. What makes the difference between a one-gram birthday candle that could hardly warm a cup of coffee and the same one-gram candle that could provide the energy of 20,000 tons of TNT?

Einstein’s equation is E equals MC². The E represents energy in ergs, mass grams and the C² is the velocity of the light squared. If we leave out the C² we get one erg is equal to one gram. One erg is less than the energy required for a mosquito to become airborne. If we add the C² we get 9 × 1020 centimeters per second. Thus we get one gram times 900,000,000,000,000,000,000 (nine hundred quintillion) centimeters per second, equals 900,000,000,000,000,000,000 ergs of energy.

This one-gram candle, then, if transformed totally to energy is equivalent to the enormous power that a city of 40,000 people would use in one day. All of this when one gram of matter is changed into energy! God’s creation pulsates with His might.
~ The Bible Friend