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tiredryan
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I am a new student to physics, and I am thinking about the average temperature of the universe. I have found that it is 2.725 +/- 0.002 K.
I am wondering what will the temperature be if we convert most or all of the mass of the universe into energy? If my understanding is correctly, mass in a system does not contribute to temperature whereas energy may. I am guessing in the very distance future we may be able to convert the entire masses of planets into usable energy, prolonging the possible eventual heat/cold death of the universe. Will the average temperature of the universe change when convert mass into energy?
Here are some back of the envelope calculations. Correct me if I am wrong since I am new to physics. The average mass of the universe is around 10^55 kg. Using E=mc^2, the energy of the universe, if converted to energy, is around 9x10^71 J.
References:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2172/whats-the-temperature-of-space
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/KristineMcPherson.shtml
I am wondering what will the temperature be if we convert most or all of the mass of the universe into energy? If my understanding is correctly, mass in a system does not contribute to temperature whereas energy may. I am guessing in the very distance future we may be able to convert the entire masses of planets into usable energy, prolonging the possible eventual heat/cold death of the universe. Will the average temperature of the universe change when convert mass into energy?
Here are some back of the envelope calculations. Correct me if I am wrong since I am new to physics. The average mass of the universe is around 10^55 kg. Using E=mc^2, the energy of the universe, if converted to energy, is around 9x10^71 J.
References:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2172/whats-the-temperature-of-space
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/KristineMcPherson.shtml
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