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The Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy
The photon peeked its head through the clouds. It looked down at the soggy ground a few kilometers below.
“Wow,” It said, “That’s a long way down.” The dual wave/particle sat on a few water molecules, apprehensive.
The hydrogen and oxygen mixture yelled “Shove off!” and the photon walked away. It sighed. It was alone; not even with members of its own wavelength. The little photon had begun as gamma radiation, just like everyone else. Soon after its birth, it started moving away.
Sure, the particle-wave met a few friends along its ten thousand-year-long or so journey. It had tried to stay in touch, but it just kept going. It seemed as though the photon was simply faster than many of its peers. In fact, it was now UV radiation; one of the few to survive the ozone layer. Now, here it was. Alone and facing its demise.
The photon burst into tears. It didn’t want to go. Not just yet. But it knew what fate had in mind. The photon decided that stalling was simply a waste of time. It sat at the edge of the little peak in the clouds. It jumped.
The journey wasn’t long. Less than a second, of course. But it seemed like the longest fall. The photon had closed its eyes. After a few seconds, the photon realized that it had never hit the solid earth. It looked around, noticing that there were electrons jumping around everywhere, all saying a faint “Hi!” before hopping to the next atom. Suddenly, it realized what had happened.
The photon must have hit a solar cell! Now it was electricity! It was ecstatic. Then a thought hit it: it wouldn’t have died anyway; it would’ve simply been converted into another form of energy. So, as it sped its way through the wire, it wondered what sort of energy it would become next.
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