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One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos


EXERCISE 7

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Particle accelerators can cause collisions of atomic nuclei that generate
superdense, super-energetic states of matter for tiny fractions of a second.
How much energy would such states of matter contain?

(a) How many times denser than water would result if Earth were squeezed into
a cube 30 feet on a side?  How many times denser than a proton would this be?

(b) What is the rest mass energy of a proton?  Express your answer in units
of Joules and electron volts.

(c) How much energy would be contained in a proton-sized piece of the superdense 
material from Part (a)?  

(d) At the heart of an exploding atomic bomb, about 100 billion Joules (10^11 J) 
are produced in a volume of about one cubic meter.  How does the energy density at
the center of such a nuclear explosion compare to the energy density of the 
superdense material from Part (a)?