If photon torpedos are antimatter, shouldn't it be a positron torpedo?

[FoBoT]

that is unpossible

 

[imported_Phil]

Geek overload! GEEK OVERLOAD!!

Won't someone think of the children?!

 

[silverpig]

It's called a photon torpedo because when anti-matter and matter annihilate they produce photons.

e + e(bar) -> 2 gamma

Electron + positron produce 2 photons, each with energy 510 keV if I remember correctly, and, again, IIRC, that's in the gamma ray portion of the spectrum (although it could be xray too...)

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: KC5AV
I don't believe a photon torpedo was necessarily an antimatter device, was it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_torpedo

http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Photonic_torpedoes

Photonic is actually a precursor to Photon, then as the technology advanced they were designated Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, etc.

So apparently "Photon" is just a name they used. Perhaps it has to do with the annihilation of the matter/antimatter when it interacted - doesn't that realease quite a bit of light energy?

 

[cquark]

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's called a photon torpedo because when anti-matter and matter annihilate they produce photons.

e + e(bar) -> 2 gamma

Electron + positron produce 2 photons, each with energy 510 keV if I remember correctly, and, again, IIRC, that's in the gamma ray portion of the spectrum (although it could be xray too...)

True, though

p + p(bar) -> pi0 + pi0 + pi0
p + p(bar) -> pi+ + pi- + pi0

and many other heavier mesons with lower probabilities.

Pi0's can decay into two photons, but pi+ and pi- can't as that would violate conservation of charge, so they decay into muons and neutrinos:

pi- -> mu- + muon antineutrino

which decay into electrons and neutrinos:

mu- -> e- + electron antineutrino + muon neutrino

Kinematics requires that most of the energy be carried away by the neutrinos.

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: preslove

Originally posted by: Reel
This should answer your questions

Wait, I think my mom gave that to me once and I gave it away because it was too dorky... DOH!

i have that book. and i read it. 😱 and i enjoyed it. 😛

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: cquark

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's called a photon torpedo because when anti-matter and matter annihilate they produce photons.

e + e(bar) -> 2 gamma

Electron + positron produce 2 photons, each with energy 510 keV if I remember correctly, and, again, IIRC, that's in the gamma ray portion of the spectrum (although it could be xray too...)

True, though

p + p(bar) -> pi0 + pi0 + pi0
p + p(bar) -> pi+ + pi- + pi0

and many other heavier mesons with lower probabilities.

Pi0's can decay into two photons, but pi+ and pi- can't as that would violate conservation of charge, so they decay into muons and neutrinos:

pi- -> mu- + muon antineutrino

which decay into electrons and neutrinos:

mu- -> e- + electron antineutrino + muon neutrino

Kinematics requires that most of the energy be carried away by the neutrinos.

PI-O!!...PI-O!!...daylight come and i want to go home...

 

[KC5AV]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
That would be 'Illogical'

Even our friend Data doesn't boot from a floppy anymore.

Not after what happened at the end of Nemesis... 😉

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: cquark

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's called a photon torpedo because when anti-matter and matter annihilate they produce photons.

e + e(bar) -> 2 gamma

Electron + positron produce 2 photons, each with energy 510 keV if I remember correctly, and, again, IIRC, that's in the gamma ray portion of the spectrum (although it could be xray too...)

True, though

p + p(bar) -> pi0 + pi0 + pi0
p + p(bar) -> pi+ + pi- + pi0

and many other heavier mesons with lower probabilities.

Pi0's can decay into two photons, but pi+ and pi- can't as that would violate conservation of charge, so they decay into muons and neutrinos:

pi- -> mu- + muon antineutrino

which decay into electrons and neutrinos:

mu- -> e- + electron antineutrino + muon neutrino

Kinematics requires that most of the energy be carried away by the neutrinos.

And we know just how effective a neutrino gun would be. So most of the energy in the p/p(bar) reactions goes to neutrinos which do jack to a target, and most of the energy in the e/e(bar) reactions goes to photons which blow stuff up, so most of the destructive power in a matter/anti-matter device is due to photons. Hence, photon torpedo 🙂

 

[Calin]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Horus
Photon Torpedo:

Starfleet standard weapon containing two equal parts of matter/antimatter. On contact with a target, matter and antimatter mix, creating an explosion.

Quantum Torpedo:

Creates a artificial singularity on contact. Disgustingly powerful.

So why exactly is it called a photon torpedo?

Because mixing matter and antimatter will create nothing? (I mean nothing except energy, and you could argue energy=wave=light)...
On a second thought, light=photons=mass 🙁

 

[Calin]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: KC5AV
I don't believe a photon torpedo was necessarily an antimatter device, was it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_torpedo

http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Photonic_torpedoes

Photonic is actually a precursor to Photon, then as the technology advanced they were designated Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, etc.

So apparently "Photon" is just a name they used. Perhaps it has to do with the annihilation of the matter/antimatter when it interacted - doesn't that realease quite a bit of light energy?

No, it releases a lot of heavy energy

 

[amcdonald]

it's 3:30 in the damn morning could you people take off your robes and wizard hats and talk about something other than fvcking star trek.
I just realized that I am actually reading this crap and thinking about it.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Calin
You mean enough energy to power a large city?

I think he means a medium-sized city. I mean, not too big, but then again not too small, of course. Maybe like 350,000 people. They couldn't have an international airport though, I think that would make them a big city. I think they might need a couple of hospitals though, or else they might be too small. Let's say the city would need to have exactly 348,575 people in its limits.

 

[Calin]

I disagree with your calculations - my numbers show one hospital, three cemeteries, and 313,200.78 inhabitants

 

[dighn]

i always thought the photon part meant they use "photonic" casing like the stuff on holodeck

</trek geek>

 

[Eli]

Star Trek: Voyager had an ongoing story of a limited supply of photon torpedoes as they were impossible to replicate. Of the 40 torpedoes Voyager was stated as carrying, 93 were used in the course of the series, implying that this problem was somehow overcome off-screen.

LOL

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: KC5AV
I don't believe a photon torpedo was necessarily an antimatter device, was it?

I don't think so either.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Eli

Star Trek: Voyager had an ongoing story of a limited supply of photon torpedoes as they were impossible to replicate. Of the 40 torpedoes Voyager was stated as carrying, 93 were used in the course of the series, implying that this problem was somehow overcome off-screen.

LOL

Whoever tallied that up gets a lifetime membership to the "will never get laid" club...

 

[cquark]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: cquark

Originally posted by: silverpig
It's called a photon torpedo because when anti-matter and matter annihilate they produce photons.

e + e(bar) -> 2 gamma

Electron + positron produce 2 photons, each with energy 510 keV if I remember correctly, and, again, IIRC, that's in the gamma ray portion of the spectrum (although it could be xray too...)

True, though

p + p(bar) -> pi0 + pi0 + pi0
p + p(bar) -> pi+ + pi- + pi0

and many other heavier mesons with lower probabilities.

Pi0's can decay into two photons, but pi+ and pi- can't as that would violate conservation of charge, so they decay into muons and neutrinos:

pi- -> mu- + muon antineutrino

which decay into electrons and neutrinos:

mu- -> e- + electron antineutrino + muon neutrino

Kinematics requires that most of the energy be carried away by the neutrinos.

And we know just how effective a neutrino gun would be. So most of the energy in the p/p(bar) reactions goes to neutrinos which do jack to a target, and most of the energy in the e/e(bar) reactions goes to photons which blow stuff up, so most of the destructive power in a matter/anti-matter device is due to photons. Hence, photon torpedo 🙂

Yes, that's what I said in my earlier post, but it's worth looking at the p/p(bar) reactions, as they show that matter-antimatter reactions are not 100% efficient means of producing power or explosions.