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RE: First Law of Thermodynamics, Nuclear
- Subject: RE: First Law of Thermodynamics, Nuclear
- From: "Butner, Robert S" <butner@BATTELLE.ORG>
- Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 23:44:05 -0800
- Delivered-To: email@example.com
- Delivered-To: firstname.lastname@example.org
- List-Name: p2tech
- Reply-To: "Butner, Robert S" <butner@BATTELLE.ORG>
As I recall my sophmore thermo, there is no "but..." in the first law; the
effect of the general theory of relativity is to link the conservation of
energy and of mass via Einstein's famous E=mc^2; hence energy and matter are
conserved even in nuclear reactions, where a small amount of mass is indeed
converted to energy ("lost" in the pre-relativistic sense).
Because of the large value of c^2, the amount of mass lost in producing
energy is extremely small but nonetheless finite. For example, conversion
of 1 gram of matter to energy releases the equivalent of nearly 10^14
Joules, or approx 27.8 million kwHr.
Scott Butner (email@example.com)
Pacific NW National Laboratory
Richland, WA 99352
From: Daniel N. Webster
Sent: 1/12/01 1:59 AM
Subject: First Law of Thermodynamics, Nuclear
Does anyone know this Law in detail as it related to Nuclear Power.
It stated something about conservation of energy and matter except in a
Or energy and matter can not be destroyed except in a nuclear reaction.
Thanks in advance
Former United States Nuclear Machinist Mate
Current Student at Colorado School of Mines
Currently Working at Walsh Environmental