Can Energy Be Converted to Mass?

[SR714ever]

Hey all,

I know this might be an amateur question, but its been bugging me. I have done a small research on how energy can be converted to mass. Some people say its impossible, some people say that mass is a form of energy, and others say it is possible.

As we all know Einstein said that E=mc2. Fine, mass can become energy. But, since matter has a cycle. It can't be created nor destroyed, and mass is the amount of matter in an object. If we can't covert energy to mass, aren't we destroying matter?

The main question is, can energy be converted to mass? If I am mistaken above, please forgive my lack of knowledge. I am at a high school standard.

Thanks and would really appreciate the reply.

 

[tom.stoer]

One can "convert energy to mass", e.g. in a well-known process called photo-pion production where a photon is converted into a pion pair.