Tuesday, May 31, 2011

[hbvvqlmz] Volume of antimatter needed to destroy the earth

1.25 * 10^15 kg of antimatter is needed to release enough energy to overcome the gravitational binding energy of the earth. That number may be too high by 31% according to Typinski, but I am skeptical: with more of the earth's mass concentrated at its dense iron core, it should take MORE than the homogeneous density energy, not less.

If the antimatter we use has the density of water, this is a cube 6.6 miles to a side. If iron, 3.4 miles. If iridium, 2.3 miles. You would want to dig a hole of approximately that diameter to the center of the earth and drop the slug to maximize the effectiveness of the explosion.

Is it enough? Some of the energy might be lost to neutrinos. Some might be lost to nuclear reactions: perhaps the explosion causes a compression shock wave that fuses lighter elements into lead, sucking up energy. Similar to models of supernovae, which are complicated things. How much energy could be lost to ionizing every atom in Earth?

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