Originally Posted by jeheron Originally Posted by

Ok, a lot of people are confused about this. The equation e=mc^2 does NOT describe the results of a transformation that can actually occur. The equation describes how much energy would HAVE to be created, to replace a set amount of mass that was removed from the universe.



Nuclear blasts DO NOT convert matter into energy. In a nuclear weapon the strong nuclear bonds are broken in atoms, and the energy in those bonds in released. NOTE: no mass has been converted to energy; energy in strong nuclear bonds has been released.



You cannot use e=mc^2 to show how destructive a mass would be if converted to energy, as that is not what the equation describes.



You could work out how much energy would be released if all the strong nuclear bonds making up the matter in your body were broken. But why.