What if… you had a bowl of electrons? [closed]

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My chemistry teacher used to tell us that if you had a soup bowl with only electrons in it, the explosion could make you fly to Pluto. Was he right? Could this happen?










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closed as off-topic by AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty Oct 1 at 6:20


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "Homework-like questions should ask about a specific physics concept and show some effort to work through the problem. We want our questions to be useful to the broader community, and to future users. See our meta site for more guidance on how to edit your question to make it better" – AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.








  • 2




    A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
    – csiz
    Oct 1 at 1:08










  • @csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
    – Aaron Stevens
    Oct 1 at 1:17














up vote
5
down vote

favorite
2












My chemistry teacher used to tell us that if you had a soup bowl with only electrons in it, the explosion could make you fly to Pluto. Was he right? Could this happen?










share|cite|improve this question









New contributor




CuriousStudent is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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closed as off-topic by AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty Oct 1 at 6:20


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "Homework-like questions should ask about a specific physics concept and show some effort to work through the problem. We want our questions to be useful to the broader community, and to future users. See our meta site for more guidance on how to edit your question to make it better" – AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.








  • 2




    A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
    – csiz
    Oct 1 at 1:08










  • @csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
    – Aaron Stevens
    Oct 1 at 1:17












up vote
5
down vote

favorite
2









up vote
5
down vote

favorite
2






2





My chemistry teacher used to tell us that if you had a soup bowl with only electrons in it, the explosion could make you fly to Pluto. Was he right? Could this happen?










share|cite|improve this question









New contributor




CuriousStudent is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











My chemistry teacher used to tell us that if you had a soup bowl with only electrons in it, the explosion could make you fly to Pluto. Was he right? Could this happen?







electromagnetism






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edited Sep 30 at 21:41









AccidentalFourierTransform

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asked Sep 30 at 21:34









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closed as off-topic by AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty Oct 1 at 6:20


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "Homework-like questions should ask about a specific physics concept and show some effort to work through the problem. We want our questions to be useful to the broader community, and to future users. See our meta site for more guidance on how to edit your question to make it better" – AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.




closed as off-topic by AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty Oct 1 at 6:20


This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:


  • "Homework-like questions should ask about a specific physics concept and show some effort to work through the problem. We want our questions to be useful to the broader community, and to future users. See our meta site for more guidance on how to edit your question to make it better" – AccidentalFourierTransform, Aaron Stevens, WillO, stafusa, Emilio Pisanty
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.







  • 2




    A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
    – csiz
    Oct 1 at 1:08










  • @csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
    – Aaron Stevens
    Oct 1 at 1:17












  • 2




    A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
    – csiz
    Oct 1 at 1:08










  • @csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
    – Aaron Stevens
    Oct 1 at 1:17







2




2




A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
– csiz
Oct 1 at 1:08




A very similar question is discussed in what-if what-if.xkcd.com/140. Let's say that if the whole moon were to be turned into electrons, the consequences would be slightly more severe.
– csiz
Oct 1 at 1:08












@csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
– Aaron Stevens
Oct 1 at 1:17




@csiz I thought I had read a scenario like this but I couldn't remember where! Thanks for putting the link up.
– Aaron Stevens
Oct 1 at 1:17










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
18
down vote



accepted










The answer would depend how densely the electrons are packed. Let's say we have 1 kg of electrons, meaning we would have about $N = 10^30$ of them. For simplicity, let's approximate by arranging all of these electrons arranged in a spherical shell of radius $r=0.1$ meters. By symmetry, the voltage at the location of each charge would be constant and would have the following value.



$$V = -frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer$$



We can thus compute the potential energy $U = frac12Q V$ associated with this configuration.



$$U = frac12 cdot Ne cdot frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer = fracN^2 e^28 pi epsilon_0 r approx boxed1.15 times 10^33 text Joules$$



Ignoring air friction, the Earth's escape velocity is $v =11200$ meters / second, which for a $m=2times 10^6$ kg space shuttle, would only require $E = frac12 mv^2 = 1.25 times 10^14$ Joules.



So, yeah, you'd have way more than plenty sufficient energy.






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  • good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
    – niels nielsen
    Sep 30 at 22:13










  • Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
    – CuriousStudent
    Sep 30 at 22:30






  • 1




    @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
    – Trevor Kafka
    Sep 30 at 23:04






  • 11




    I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
    – Nacht
    Sep 30 at 23:37






  • 12




    It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
    – teclnol
    Sep 30 at 23:49

















up vote
8
down vote













A uniform sphere of radius $r$ and total charge $Q$ has an electric potential energy of $3Q^2/20pi epsilon_0 r$.



Let's say your bowl is like a sphere of radius 5 cm. If it's all water ( molecular weight 18$m_u$) and $mu= 9/5$ of a mass unit for every electron, then the number of electrons is
$ N_e = 1000 frac4pi r^33/mu m_u = 5times 10^26$



If all the nuclei were removed, the electric potential energy would be $7times 10^26$ Joules.



Pluto is at about 40 au from the Sun, effectively to get there, you have to escape from Earth and escape from the Sun. To do this you would need to launch from the Earth with a carefully directed speed of at least 16 km/s. If your mass is 100 kg, that takes a mere $1.3times 10^10$ J.






share|cite|improve this answer



























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes








    up vote
    18
    down vote



    accepted










    The answer would depend how densely the electrons are packed. Let's say we have 1 kg of electrons, meaning we would have about $N = 10^30$ of them. For simplicity, let's approximate by arranging all of these electrons arranged in a spherical shell of radius $r=0.1$ meters. By symmetry, the voltage at the location of each charge would be constant and would have the following value.



    $$V = -frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer$$



    We can thus compute the potential energy $U = frac12Q V$ associated with this configuration.



    $$U = frac12 cdot Ne cdot frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer = fracN^2 e^28 pi epsilon_0 r approx boxed1.15 times 10^33 text Joules$$



    Ignoring air friction, the Earth's escape velocity is $v =11200$ meters / second, which for a $m=2times 10^6$ kg space shuttle, would only require $E = frac12 mv^2 = 1.25 times 10^14$ Joules.



    So, yeah, you'd have way more than plenty sufficient energy.






    share|cite|improve this answer




















    • good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
      – niels nielsen
      Sep 30 at 22:13










    • Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
      – CuriousStudent
      Sep 30 at 22:30






    • 1




      @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
      – Trevor Kafka
      Sep 30 at 23:04






    • 11




      I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
      – Nacht
      Sep 30 at 23:37






    • 12




      It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
      – teclnol
      Sep 30 at 23:49














    up vote
    18
    down vote



    accepted










    The answer would depend how densely the electrons are packed. Let's say we have 1 kg of electrons, meaning we would have about $N = 10^30$ of them. For simplicity, let's approximate by arranging all of these electrons arranged in a spherical shell of radius $r=0.1$ meters. By symmetry, the voltage at the location of each charge would be constant and would have the following value.



    $$V = -frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer$$



    We can thus compute the potential energy $U = frac12Q V$ associated with this configuration.



    $$U = frac12 cdot Ne cdot frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer = fracN^2 e^28 pi epsilon_0 r approx boxed1.15 times 10^33 text Joules$$



    Ignoring air friction, the Earth's escape velocity is $v =11200$ meters / second, which for a $m=2times 10^6$ kg space shuttle, would only require $E = frac12 mv^2 = 1.25 times 10^14$ Joules.



    So, yeah, you'd have way more than plenty sufficient energy.






    share|cite|improve this answer




















    • good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
      – niels nielsen
      Sep 30 at 22:13










    • Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
      – CuriousStudent
      Sep 30 at 22:30






    • 1




      @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
      – Trevor Kafka
      Sep 30 at 23:04






    • 11




      I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
      – Nacht
      Sep 30 at 23:37






    • 12




      It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
      – teclnol
      Sep 30 at 23:49












    up vote
    18
    down vote



    accepted







    up vote
    18
    down vote



    accepted






    The answer would depend how densely the electrons are packed. Let's say we have 1 kg of electrons, meaning we would have about $N = 10^30$ of them. For simplicity, let's approximate by arranging all of these electrons arranged in a spherical shell of radius $r=0.1$ meters. By symmetry, the voltage at the location of each charge would be constant and would have the following value.



    $$V = -frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer$$



    We can thus compute the potential energy $U = frac12Q V$ associated with this configuration.



    $$U = frac12 cdot Ne cdot frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer = fracN^2 e^28 pi epsilon_0 r approx boxed1.15 times 10^33 text Joules$$



    Ignoring air friction, the Earth's escape velocity is $v =11200$ meters / second, which for a $m=2times 10^6$ kg space shuttle, would only require $E = frac12 mv^2 = 1.25 times 10^14$ Joules.



    So, yeah, you'd have way more than plenty sufficient energy.






    share|cite|improve this answer












    The answer would depend how densely the electrons are packed. Let's say we have 1 kg of electrons, meaning we would have about $N = 10^30$ of them. For simplicity, let's approximate by arranging all of these electrons arranged in a spherical shell of radius $r=0.1$ meters. By symmetry, the voltage at the location of each charge would be constant and would have the following value.



    $$V = -frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer$$



    We can thus compute the potential energy $U = frac12Q V$ associated with this configuration.



    $$U = frac12 cdot Ne cdot frac14pi epsilon_0fracNer = fracN^2 e^28 pi epsilon_0 r approx boxed1.15 times 10^33 text Joules$$



    Ignoring air friction, the Earth's escape velocity is $v =11200$ meters / second, which for a $m=2times 10^6$ kg space shuttle, would only require $E = frac12 mv^2 = 1.25 times 10^14$ Joules.



    So, yeah, you'd have way more than plenty sufficient energy.







    share|cite|improve this answer












    share|cite|improve this answer



    share|cite|improve this answer










    answered Sep 30 at 22:06









    Trevor Kafka

    714311




    714311











    • good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
      – niels nielsen
      Sep 30 at 22:13










    • Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
      – CuriousStudent
      Sep 30 at 22:30






    • 1




      @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
      – Trevor Kafka
      Sep 30 at 23:04






    • 11




      I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
      – Nacht
      Sep 30 at 23:37






    • 12




      It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
      – teclnol
      Sep 30 at 23:49
















    • good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
      – niels nielsen
      Sep 30 at 22:13










    • Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
      – CuriousStudent
      Sep 30 at 22:30






    • 1




      @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
      – Trevor Kafka
      Sep 30 at 23:04






    • 11




      I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
      – Nacht
      Sep 30 at 23:37






    • 12




      It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
      – teclnol
      Sep 30 at 23:49















    good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
    – niels nielsen
    Sep 30 at 22:13




    good job, Trevor. simple and direct.
    – niels nielsen
    Sep 30 at 22:13












    Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
    – CuriousStudent
    Sep 30 at 22:30




    Thanks for the answer! So you'd need less than $1mu$g of electrons to get to Pluto :)
    – CuriousStudent
    Sep 30 at 22:30




    1




    1




    @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
    – Trevor Kafka
    Sep 30 at 23:04




    @AaronStevens No, but if you integrate over all of the charge it is as if they were. A charged spherical shell acts as if it were all concentrated at the center as far as electric fields outside of the shell are concerned.
    – Trevor Kafka
    Sep 30 at 23:04




    11




    11




    I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
    – Nacht
    Sep 30 at 23:37




    I'm not sure there would be anything left you could call "you" that would be making it to Pluto
    – Nacht
    Sep 30 at 23:37




    12




    12




    It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
    – teclnol
    Sep 30 at 23:49




    It's important to note that even 1kg of electrons is a lot, a 150kg human has less than about 50 grams of electrons total.
    – teclnol
    Sep 30 at 23:49










    up vote
    8
    down vote













    A uniform sphere of radius $r$ and total charge $Q$ has an electric potential energy of $3Q^2/20pi epsilon_0 r$.



    Let's say your bowl is like a sphere of radius 5 cm. If it's all water ( molecular weight 18$m_u$) and $mu= 9/5$ of a mass unit for every electron, then the number of electrons is
    $ N_e = 1000 frac4pi r^33/mu m_u = 5times 10^26$



    If all the nuclei were removed, the electric potential energy would be $7times 10^26$ Joules.



    Pluto is at about 40 au from the Sun, effectively to get there, you have to escape from Earth and escape from the Sun. To do this you would need to launch from the Earth with a carefully directed speed of at least 16 km/s. If your mass is 100 kg, that takes a mere $1.3times 10^10$ J.






    share|cite|improve this answer
























      up vote
      8
      down vote













      A uniform sphere of radius $r$ and total charge $Q$ has an electric potential energy of $3Q^2/20pi epsilon_0 r$.



      Let's say your bowl is like a sphere of radius 5 cm. If it's all water ( molecular weight 18$m_u$) and $mu= 9/5$ of a mass unit for every electron, then the number of electrons is
      $ N_e = 1000 frac4pi r^33/mu m_u = 5times 10^26$



      If all the nuclei were removed, the electric potential energy would be $7times 10^26$ Joules.



      Pluto is at about 40 au from the Sun, effectively to get there, you have to escape from Earth and escape from the Sun. To do this you would need to launch from the Earth with a carefully directed speed of at least 16 km/s. If your mass is 100 kg, that takes a mere $1.3times 10^10$ J.






      share|cite|improve this answer






















        up vote
        8
        down vote










        up vote
        8
        down vote









        A uniform sphere of radius $r$ and total charge $Q$ has an electric potential energy of $3Q^2/20pi epsilon_0 r$.



        Let's say your bowl is like a sphere of radius 5 cm. If it's all water ( molecular weight 18$m_u$) and $mu= 9/5$ of a mass unit for every electron, then the number of electrons is
        $ N_e = 1000 frac4pi r^33/mu m_u = 5times 10^26$



        If all the nuclei were removed, the electric potential energy would be $7times 10^26$ Joules.



        Pluto is at about 40 au from the Sun, effectively to get there, you have to escape from Earth and escape from the Sun. To do this you would need to launch from the Earth with a carefully directed speed of at least 16 km/s. If your mass is 100 kg, that takes a mere $1.3times 10^10$ J.






        share|cite|improve this answer












        A uniform sphere of radius $r$ and total charge $Q$ has an electric potential energy of $3Q^2/20pi epsilon_0 r$.



        Let's say your bowl is like a sphere of radius 5 cm. If it's all water ( molecular weight 18$m_u$) and $mu= 9/5$ of a mass unit for every electron, then the number of electrons is
        $ N_e = 1000 frac4pi r^33/mu m_u = 5times 10^26$



        If all the nuclei were removed, the electric potential energy would be $7times 10^26$ Joules.



        Pluto is at about 40 au from the Sun, effectively to get there, you have to escape from Earth and escape from the Sun. To do this you would need to launch from the Earth with a carefully directed speed of at least 16 km/s. If your mass is 100 kg, that takes a mere $1.3times 10^10$ J.







        share|cite|improve this answer












        share|cite|improve this answer



        share|cite|improve this answer










        answered Sep 30 at 22:36









        Rob Jeffries

        66.1k7130223




        66.1k7130223












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