Answer :
Holy cow !
Before we do the mass-energy conversion, and then relate that to the
household energy usage, we have to get some numbers in order, and
massage some units etc.:
46 grams = 0.046 kg
c = 3 x 10^8 m/s
c² = 9 x 10^16 m²/s²
===========================
Household daily energy consumption:
(16 kilowatt-hour) = (16 x 1,000watt x hour) = (16 x 1,000 joule/sec x hour)
16,000 (joule-hour/sec) x (3,600 sec/hour) = (16,000 x 3,600) = 5.76 x 10^7 joule
I just noticed that the question GAVE us the joule equivalent of 1 kWh, so it
wasn't necessary to derive it. I checked my figure here against that one, and
got the same number ... 5.76 x 10^7 joule per day. So I'm OK so far. yay!
===========================
Now we have everything we need:
E = m c² = (0.046) x (9 x 10^16) = 4.14 x 10^15 joules in a golf ball of mass.
(4.14 x 10^15 joules) / (5.76 x 10^7 joules per day) = 71,875,000 days
That's roughly 196,783 years of typical household electrical energy use.
(assuming that every year was, is, and shall always be 365-1/4 days.)
Before we do the mass-energy conversion, and then relate that to the
household energy usage, we have to get some numbers in order, and
massage some units etc.:
46 grams = 0.046 kg
c = 3 x 10^8 m/s
c² = 9 x 10^16 m²/s²
===========================
Household daily energy consumption:
(16 kilowatt-hour) = (16 x 1,000watt x hour) = (16 x 1,000 joule/sec x hour)
16,000 (joule-hour/sec) x (3,600 sec/hour) = (16,000 x 3,600) = 5.76 x 10^7 joule
I just noticed that the question GAVE us the joule equivalent of 1 kWh, so it
wasn't necessary to derive it. I checked my figure here against that one, and
got the same number ... 5.76 x 10^7 joule per day. So I'm OK so far. yay!
===========================
Now we have everything we need:
E = m c² = (0.046) x (9 x 10^16) = 4.14 x 10^15 joules in a golf ball of mass.
(4.14 x 10^15 joules) / (5.76 x 10^7 joules per day) = 71,875,000 days
That's roughly 196,783 years of typical household electrical energy use.
(assuming that every year was, is, and shall always be 365-1/4 days.)