Science has confirmed that matter is indeed made of energy fields. this means You It is an energy field – but not of the “chakras” or “auras” type. We’re not talking about the stuff you find in the alternative medicine section of an indie bookstore.
So what are we talking about? We all know that matter is made up of molecules and atoms. In contrast, atoms are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons and neutrons (which we can group together and rename as “nucleons”) are made up of smaller particles still called quarks. Thus, electrons and quarks are the building blocks of matter.
There are two properties that define matter – volume and mass – and both are determined at the subatomic level by energy and a related concept called force fields. Let’s take a look at both of them in turn.
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When we talk about how matter is put together, the most common building block is the atom. Collect the correct number and types of atoms (such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon) and you can build a human body.
Atoms are mostly empty space. It consists of a small nucleus containing nucleons (protons and neutrons), surrounded by clouds of electrons. The nucleus makes up about one trillionth the size of an atom, and electron clouds make up the rest. But electrons are also small, so clouds are mostly empty space, too. (Scientists talk about “pulling” an electron because, according to quantum mechanics, an electron is present at the same time everywhere and only appears in one place when the atom interacts with its surroundings.)
But the empty space of an atom is not completely empty. It is filled with an electromagnetic field that binds electrons to the nucleus. Thus the size of an atom is ultimately determined by how close or far the electron cloud is from the nucleus. Larger atoms have more electrons and larger clouds extending farther from the nucleus.
matter mass
Nucleons are about 2,000 times heavier than electrons. So, your mass—what makes a bathroom scale read higher than you’d like—lies in protons and neutrons. Since protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, you might think that quarks would be massive by themselves, but this is not true. Quarks make up only 2% of the mass of nucleons. So, where does the mass come from?
Like many things in subatomic science, we must turn to Albert Einstein and his famous equation E=mc2. Quarks move very quickly — in fact, at a large fraction of the speed of light. This means that they have a lot of moving energy, what we call kinetic energy.
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But those nucleons made up of quarks are very small. They are basically spheres with a radius of about one quadrillionth of a meter. The only way to keep these fast-moving quarks confined to a small ball is through an incredibly strong force – what scientists call the strong force. Strong forces equal a great deal of energy, in this case potential energy.
You are energy
Incredibly, what this all means is that 98% of the mass that makes up you and in fact all matter is not “stuff”. Instead, it is the combination of kinetic (moving) and potential (binding) energy within the nucleons. Remember, Einstein’s equation tells us this Mass and energy are equivalentSo it’s this huge amount of energy inside nucleons that makes up the vast majority of our mass.
This is an amazing, startling conclusion. Instead of the intuitive idea that you are solid and made of huge atoms, much like how grains of sand make up a sandbag, you are mostly empty space. If you were somehow able to take a snapshot of all the atoms in your body, and locate each atom, you would find empty space filled with little electrons and atomic nuclei, bound together by electromagnetic energy.
Each of us proves Einstein’s equation just because we exist.
