# Converting the energy the earth gets from to sun into mass.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-the-energy-the-earth-gets-from-to-sun-into-mass/690797>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 14, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-the-energy-the-earth-gets-from-to-sun-into-mass/690797 "2014-06-14T22:44:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-the-energy-the-earth-gets-from-to-sun-into-mass/690797/21 "2014-06-16T02:57:49Z")

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_Since E=mc2, if we took the energy the earth receives from the sun in any 24-hour period, and converted that into mass, how much would that be?_

Absolute is right if you’re looking at it as a simple arithmetic problem, but if you want to actually use that energy to create some matter, then you’ve got to use something like the Stanford Linear Particle Accelerator, right? Haven’t they made electrons and positrons from gamma ray photon collisions?

So what is the power consumption of a particle accelerator compared to the wattage of a day’s worth of sunlight?

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**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-the-energy-the-earth-gets-from-to-sun-into-mass/690797/22 "2014-06-16T03:27:54Z")

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> [@Ornery\_Bob](#):
>
> _Since E=mc2, if we took the energy the earth receives from the sun in any 24-hour period, and converted that into mass, how much would that be?_
> 
> Absolute is right if you’re looking at it as a simple arithmetic problem, but if you want to actually use that energy to create some matter, then you’ve got to use something like the Stanford Linear Particle Accelerator, right?

To create some matter, yes. To create some mass, no. If the sun shines on an ice cube and melts it, the resulting water will have a _tiny_ bit more mass than the ice cube. (And I mean _tiny_). Mass was created from energy.

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