Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Industry and Science, Senator Farrell. In his 1917 paper on the quantum theory of radiation, Einstein said the energy transferred by radiation is so small that it always drops out as compared to other processes. This is in line with his 1905 mass energy equivalence principle that says mass is energy. Given the mass of an electron is 1,800 times smaller than that of a proton, how can a photon absorbed by an electron in a carbon dioxide molecule at a wavelength of 14.8 microns and energy of 1.4 to the power of negative 20 joules be expected to increase the temperature of the surrounding 6,600 nitrogen and oxygen molecules by one degree without violating the first law of thermodynamics?