Is it possible to destroy matter?

[Tank101]

As brought up in my science class, the definition of destroying is completely removing something from existance, which is proven to be impossible, but I'm wondering if there is some way to completely remove matter from existance.

[lightdarkness]

Matter cannot be destoryed, it is just placed elsewhere.

[Tank101]

What if matter is put into a form of a vacuum,(not the cleaner), like a black hole for example.

[DDRISONLY4COOLPPLZ]

Let me see , matter is something that occupies space and can be perceived by one or more senses then yes it can be destroyed . Good question by the way

[jewpinthethird]

Destroying matter isnt something that as that DDRISONLY4COOL people.

Take a pile of wood. You light it on fire and watch it burn until there is no longer any more wood to burn. Yes, the wood has been "destroyed" but all the molecules that made up the wood are still present....the ashes and smoke that was released into the air.

And then there is the Black Hole theory. Well, the theory is that a black hole is that a star has so much mass, that it acutally creates a bend it space (since space is not a vacuum, so to say, because it does contain matter). It creates such a strong gravity force, that anything near it is sucked into it...and nothing known to man can escape it (not even light). So, Matter is destroyed when it enters the void.

[brutisgrr]

hmm... good question. The should be, however, that we don't know. Though everyone here has a valid argument, we don't really know that much we you think about it. We live in a corner of the universe approximately 1/infinity of the entire thing. We can't pretend to know what the heck we're talking about.

To the matter though, matter can't be destroyed (as far as we know) because it is made of bery complicated energy particles, which we have proven (to the extent of our knowledge) is undestroyable.

[GuidoHunter]

Actually, yes, matter can be destroyed, but not by any means already proposed.

The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed by ordinary chemical means. Jewpin's example with the wood illustrates conversion of matter by ordinary means (wood turning into ash and smoke). His black hole example was a bit off, though. Black holes aren't actually voids. They're just extremely dense balls of a whole lot of matter. So when something gets sucked into a black hole, it just adds to the amount of matter and makes the gravitational force greater.

The only way to actually destroy matter is by introducing it to its respective antimatter. They annihilate each other completely. Of course, you could take the idea that matter and energy are equivalent and run with it by saying that the matter was just converted into energy, but for the purposes of this argument, observable matter is no more when it encounters antimatter and is effectively destroyed.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

[CypherToorima]

Edit: Guido already said what I was gooing to say

[brutisgrr]

You are still acting as if humans know everything in the universe

No, but seriously, we don't know exactly what black holes are exactly cuz no-one can get close enough to find out. Technically, if black holes are what you think they are, you wouldn't be ably to see them because no light reflects from them. So if they are what we think they are, then we shouldn't know of their existance.

But who knows? There might be such a thing as antimatter, and there might not. Black holes might or might not be what they are thought to be. We can only guess, and observe, and laugh at our predictions because we only post cuz we're bored.

[GuidoHunter]

Brutis, we can't actually prove that anything exists; we just have to trust our senses and judgments and accept things as facts or else we'd never learn anything.

You also don't know much about black holes, do you? Light emission isn't the only way to detect something. As for antimatter, it really does exist. I'll explain in more detail later, as I have to go right now.

There's no point in trying to destroy this discussion with uncertainty.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

[TheAppleEater]

Main Entry: an·ti·mat·ter
Pronunciation: 'an-ti-"ma-t&r, 'an-"tI-
Function: noun
: matter composed of antiparticles

Main Entry: an·ti·par·ti·cle
Pronunciation: 'an-ti-"pär-ti-k&l, 'an-"tI-
Function: noun
: a subatomic particle identical to another subatomic particle in mass but opposite to it in electric and magnetic properties (as sign of charge) that when brought together with its counterpart produces mutual annihilation; especially : a subatomic particle not found in ordinary matter

I dont quit know what this mean but maybe someone else will.

[brutisgrr]

I know the theory about antimatter having because everything in the universe has an opposite, but like i've said, it's based on the very limited knowledge we have gathered from our corner of the universe, and anything can be proven right of wrong. Thats why we are even having this discussion, isn't it?

And last time I checked, we didn't have any means of reaching that far into the universe to detect something like a black hole that cannot be detected by light emmission. If we do have a way, I would sure as hell like to know about it.

And I'm not trying to destroy the discussion. I posted my opinion, and you posted yours. Just because they differ doesn't mean anything.

<_<
>_>
But... I have to admit antimatter would be the only answer if there was a way to destroy matter. gj.

[TheAppleEater]

http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html#q7

Seventh bullet down. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[Jam930]

You guys don't know what a blackhole is!

Matter cannot be destroyed.

A blackhole is just dense matter.



That is what an atom is, more or less. A center core with a cloud of electrons around it. In ordinary items, the clouds dont even touch, your hand is composed mostly of nothing. These atoms are spaced apart in solids, even more in liquids and spaced the most in gases. When a large star dies, it explodes and the explosion presses all the central atoms together to the size of a thimble. All the space between the atoms is no longer there, the atoms have been super pressed together, making super dense matter, but the atoms are still there. All matter is composed of atoms, and you can't destroy those, only press them together or change the number of electrons etc. Didn't you guys take chemistry?

Ofcourse this is really only theory, but it's the best of it. And we're pretty sure about it.

The way they detect black holes is when they pass in front of a star or when it sucks in another star, you can see the star getting sucked in with very powerful telescopes.

My main sources for this information were the discovery channel, chemistry text books and a teacher.

[Laharl]

Anyone familiar with atomic energy? Matter is destroyed, which is why the explosions are so enourmous and destructive. Energy is shot into an atom, which destroys it, and casues a huge boom that destroys anything near it instantly and keeps any life from living anywhere near that area for the next 50 years.