Positron Generators and Heat Energy

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Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we have been burning fossil fuels to create energy (History, n.d.). Traditionally, coal is burned and heat is created, that heat then causes water in pipes to turn into steam. The steam is kept under high pressure, the pressure then drives the steam over the blades of a steam turbine, causing it to spin. This converts the heat energy into mechanical energy which is then converted into electrical energy using a generator (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.). The problem with using coal and other fossil fuels is the fact that they are non-renewable and can take over five-million years to form. Due to this, it is estimated that we will exhaust our supply of non-renewable resources in the next 50 – 100 years (Ecotricity, n.d.). By using matter/antimatter reactors, also called positron reactors, to create energy, the problem will be solved as there is an abundant supply of antimatter in the universe (Fool Moon, n.d.).
Antimatter is a material composed of antiparticles, which have the same mass as particles of “ordinary” matter, but have opposite charges and other properties such as spin and lepton number. An example of this can be seen when examining the charge of the particles. An electron has a charge of negative one; a positron (antielectron) has a charge of positive one. The same can be seen when comparing the charge of a proton and an antiproton (CERN, n.d.). An encounter between particles and antiparticles leads to the annihilation of both particles, creating a huge release of heat in the form of gamma rays, which can then be converted into energy. This is due to the fact that the spin of particles and antiparticles is opposite, so when the two meet, they create a spin of zero. The only thi...

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Smidgen of Antimatter Surrounds Earth. (n.d.). DNews. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://news.discovery.com/space/pamela-spots-a-smidgen-of-antimatter-110811.htm
So You Want to Become a Physicist?. (n.d.). Explorations in Science Official Website of Dr Michio Kaku RSS. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://mkaku.org/home/?page_id=256
The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel: Sci, Space, Tech. (n.d.). 'The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel: Sci, Space, Tech'. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/10/the-positron-pr.html
The End Of Fossil Fuels. (n.d.). - Our Green Energy. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/energy-independence/the-end-of-fossil-fuels
Wikia. (n.d.). Memory Alpha. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Warp_drive

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