Naming convention: Sci06 - Electricity - Green Energy
Name Anson Doan Hr 6JQ
Due date: Thursday May 16, 2013
Generating Green Electricity One World Essay
Antimatter Energy
My technology is Antimatter Reactors. This is a theoretical technology but may see a lot of use in
the future as 100% of all mass is converted to energy. It is also green, as there is no known way
this can negatively impact the environment…unless it blows up. This technology can also be used
for space travel; ten grams of antimatter is enough to get a spacecraft to Mars…in a month. The
technology depends on antimatter getting annihilated with matter.
The (theoretical) Antimatter
Reactor works by annihilating
matter with antimatter, thus
creating a burst of energy. This
burst of energy heats up
water, causing the water to
evaporate and turn to steam.
This steam turns a turbine,
which turns a magnet inside a
coil of wire. The magnetic field
from the magnet causes
electrons to move, thus
generating electricity.
Naming convention: Sci06 - Electricity - Green Energy
Name Anson Doan Hr 6JQ
Benefits
1.100% mass converted to energy
Drawbacks
1.expensive
2.not much waste
2.explosive
3.green energy
3.cannot be generated in excess
Antimatter is nice clean energy that doesn’t leave much waste, as all of it gets annihilated. 100% of all
mass is also converted to energy, something which our current technology completely fails at. It’s not
without its drawbacks, however. Making antimatter is currently very expensive and very minimal
antimatter is produced. All the antimatter made at CERN in a year could power a 100-watt light bulb for 3
seconds. Even if antimatter reactors became a reality tomorrow, no one would use them as the energy
required to generate the antimatter for the reactor is far greater than the energy generated by the
reactor. Any country using an antimatter reactor would very quickly run out of power if they relied on the
reactor alone. Also, antimatter, as I’m sure you well know, is very explosive. Improper handling and you’ve
got a crater where your reactor once stood. In a few decades, this technology may be a reality, but
anybody who’s hoping for Star Trek-like technology tomorrow is sadly mistaken.
The antimatter reactor has quite an impact on society. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to wake up
each morning worried that the city will explode because someone handles the antimatter
incorrectly. Fortunately, an antimatter reactor cannot impact the environment in any way…unless
it blows up. Since the antimatter is completely annihilated, there are no greenhouse gasses
produced, so this is green energy, but antimatter is ridiculously expensive, both in terms of
money and electricity, to produce. This may see lots of use in the future, particularly for
spacecraft, but at this point even turning a generator with your hand produces far more
electricity at a far smaller cost.
In short, antimatter is an amazing thing. It could be used to power a nation, or to send a
spacecraft to the distant stars. But it has its dark side as well. It could as easily be used as a
weapon of mass annihilation. Is it an amazing help to society? Or an Armageddon device? You
decide.
Naming convention: Sci06 - Electricity - Green Energy
Name Anson Doan Hr 6JQ
Mechanics of essay
Word document
Drafts must be emailed to yourself every day you work on it.
Must be dropped in the drop box on _________
Specifications
300-500 words
4 paragraphs
1 Chart
1 Diagram (hand drawn and labeled)
11-12 font size
Works cited (use easy bib)
Criterion D: Reflecting on the impact of science - Green Electricity
Maximum 8
SOURCES CITED
Bonsor, Kevin. "How Antimatter Spacecraft Will Work." HowStuffWorks. 29 Nov. 2000. How
Stuff Works. 16 May 2013 <http://www.howstuffworks.com/antimatter.htm>.
Dooling, Dave. "Reaching for the Stars - NASA Science." Reaching for the Stars - NASA Science.
12 Apr. 1999. NASA. 16 May 2013 <http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/1999/prop12apr99_1/>.
Maisel, Merry. "San Diego Supercomputer Center." San Diego Supercomputer Center. 1 June
2003. SDSC. 16 May 2013 <http://www.sdsc.edu/pub/envision/v19.2/antimatter.html>.
Martinez, Alberto Molina. "Antimatter Electrical Generator, to Give the Planet a Chance!"
Antimatter Electrical Generator, to Give the Planet a Chance! 27 May 2012. Give the Planet a
Chance. 16 May 2013 <http://www.givetheplanetachance.com/>.
Martinez, Alberto Molina. "Sept. 4th, 2012 Where did all the antimatter go?" Untitled Document.
4 Sept. 2012. Molina Institute for Photon Physics Research. 16 May 2013 <http://www.themolina-institute.org/where_antimatter_is.html>.
Ouellette, Jennifer. "Discovery News." DNews. 28 Sept. 2012. Discovery News. 16 May 2013
<http://news.discovery.com/space/revving-up-the-antimatter-engine-120927.htm>.
Zona, Kathleen. "NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration." NASA. 2 May 2008.
NASA. 16 May 2013 <http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/antistat.html>.
Naming convention: Sci06 - Electricity - Green Energy
Outline and
summarize
 How well did you
describe how
science is applied in
the technology you
chose to generate
green electricity?
Implications
 How well did you describe how
your green electricity
technology interacts with one of
the following factors
social – economic – political –
environmental – moral
 How might your technology
cause new or different
problems?
1-2
Communication
 How well can you
apply scientific terms
to correctly
communicate your
understanding?
 How clear is your
writing?
 How factual is your
writing?
Documentation
 How organized is your
works cited?
 Did you cite all your
sources?
attempts to state
the ways in which science is applied and used to address generating
green energy
attempts to state
a solution to green energy production and how it is linked to one of the
One World factors: social – economic – political – environmental- moral
attempts to state
attempts to apply
with limited effectiveness
scientific language to communicate his or her understanding
attempts to
document sources correctly
is able to state
States
3-4
Name Anson Doan Hr 6JQ
States
applies
the ways in which science is applied and used to address generating
green energy
a solution to green energy production and how it is linked to one of the
One World factors: social – economic – political – environmental- moral
scientific language to communicate his or her understanding
but is not clear and effective
states
with errors
outlines
outlines
5-6
7-8
document sources correctly
the ways in which science is applied and used to address generating
green energy
a solution to green energy production and how it is linked to one of the
One World factors: social – economic – political – environmental -moral
outlines applies
but is inconsistent or
not clear or precise
states
mostly correct
outlines and summarizes
outlines and summarizes
outlines and summarizes
scientific language to communicate his or her understanding
document sources correctly
the ways in which science is applied and used to address generating
green energy
a solution to green energy production and how it is linked to one of the
One World factors: social – economic – political – environmental- moral
scientific language to communicate his or her understanding
Consistently applies
Clearly and precisely
Consistently
document sources completely