Display MoreWell, the textbooks say it does. I wouldn't know. Go read a textbook and tell us why it is wrong.
Actually, just I asked our invisible friend how this works. Her answer is over my head, and possibly nonsensical. Here it is:
ME (partway through the conversation): . . . I realize the change in mass in the spring is miniscule. It is less than one electron, I believe. So, what particles in the spring are affected by the loss of mass? How does mass decrease if the total mass loss is less than any one subatomic particle?
ChatGPT Ver. 4:
Your observation is astute and touches on an important aspect of how energy and mass are intertwined at the quantum level. The mass change implied by the energy released or absorbed in mechanical systems like a clock spring, as calculated, is indeed minuscule—much smaller than the mass of a single electron (approximately 9.109×10−319.109×10−31 kg). This raises a fascinating question: If the change in mass is less than that of the smallest subatomic particles we know, how can we conceptualize this loss or gain of mass?
In classical mechanics and everyday scales, we don't observe mass being lost or gained in pieces smaller than subatomic particles because the energy changes involved do not directly result in the loss or gain of particles themselves. Instead, the situation is best understood through the framework of quantum field theory and relativity, where energy and mass are seen as two sides of the same coin.
Quantum Field Theory Perspective
In quantum field theory, particles are excitations of underlying fields. The energy you add to or remove from a system can change the energy content of these fields, but it doesn't necessarily mean adding or removing particles from the system in a direct one-to-one correspondence. The mass change associated with the energy change in macroscopic objects (like a clock spring) is distributed across the entire system, affecting its overall energy state rather than manifesting as the discrete appearance or disappearance of particles.
Relativity and Binding Energy
The concept of mass-energy equivalence also applies to binding energy in systems. For example, in nuclear physics, the mass of a nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent protons and neutrons due to the binding energy that holds the nucleus together. This difference is known as the mass defect. When energy is added to or removed from a system, such as winding or unwinding a spring, the "mass" represented by this energy change is distributed across the system's energy state, affecting its total mass-energy content without necessarily adding or subtracting individual particles.
Energy Distribution
The decrease in mass due to the energy released when a spring unwinds is spread across the entire system, affecting the vibrational, rotational, and perhaps even the electronic energy states of the atoms and molecules making up the spring. This does not result in a loss of particles but in a slight change in the energy state of the system. The energy released may be converted into other forms, such as kinetic energy of motion or heat, which involves changes in the movement and interactions of particles within and possibly outside the system.
Conclusion
In practical terms, we don't identify specific particles "lost" from the system when mechanical energy is converted into other forms because the changes are distributed across the system's entire quantum field. The concept of losing mass in chunks that are smaller than subatomic particles doesn't apply in the way we might initially imagine. Instead, the mass-energy equivalence principle allows for a more nuanced understanding of how energy changes affect the overall mass of a system without necessitating the discrete removal of particles.
A lot of words.
Nobody pays attention to how the mass of the cold fusion generator changes. Is it decreasing or increasing?
