A resting source releases a chosen fraction of its rest energy E₀ = m₀c² as two radiation packets traveling in opposite directions, so the total momentum stays zero. The simulator shows the energy carried away and the matching decrease in the source's rest mass Δm = E/c².
• A resting energy source, positive-direction radiation, opposed radiation and a ledger that keeps the mass and energy accounts side by side. • Controls for initial rest mass (1 to 10 g), the released fraction (0.01 to 0.5) and the radiation axis angle (0 to 180°). • Readouts: exported radiation energy, remaining source rest mass, source mass decrease, energy per packet, energy-balance error and net packet momentum. • One gram at ten percent exports about 8.99 TJ and lowers the source mass by 0.1 g; rotating the axis leaves the ledger unchanged because the opposed momenta still cancel.
E_export = f m₀c² and Δm = E_export/c², so m_remaining = m₀ − Δm. Two opposed packets each carry E_export/2, and each has momentum magnitude p = E/c, so the net momentum is zero. Total energy is conserved: the decrease in rest energy equals the energy in the radiation.
This is an energy–momentum bookkeeping thought experiment. It is not a practical conversion device, nor a mechanism for releasing arbitrary material rest energy. Release is progressively revealed over 10 animation seconds, packets and source size are illustrative, and c = 299,792,458 m/s.
No. The lost rest energy appears as the energy of the radiation packets. The simulator reports an energy-balance error that stays at zero to numerical precision.
It keeps total momentum at zero so the source stays at rest and the mass change can be read off cleanly. Each photon carries p = E/c, and equal opposed packets cancel.
About 89.9 TJ, since E = mc² with m = 1 g. At a ten percent release the simulator reports about 8.99 TJ exported and a 0.1 g mass decrease.
Not as modeled. Real processes release only a small fraction of rest mass through specific nuclear or chemical pathways. This lab is a general bookkeeping illustration with an adjustable fraction.