Antimatter

Overview

Antimatter is the mirror version of normal matter. Antiparticles have some properties identical to their counterparts, such as mass, but opposite values for others, such as charge. All known particles have antimatter counterparts or are their own antiparticles, and some can combine to form composite antimatter particles, such as the antiproton. When a particle collides with its antiparticle, they annihilate, converting their mass into energy or less massive particles.

The concept of antimatter emerged in 1928, when special relativity, which explained the motion of objects traveling near the speed of light, was combined with quantum mechanics. The mathematics suggested the existence of an electron with negative energy, dubbed the antielectron. This particle—a positively charged electron, or positron—was discovered four years later while analyzing collisions between cosmic rays and atmospheric atoms.

Besides cosmic ray interactions, antimatter is commonly produced in high-energy environments, including stars, nuclear power plants, thunderstorms, and particle accelerators. Some radioactive substances emit antimatter, which is harnessed in imaging systems like PET scans. Through pair production, matter-antimatter particle pairs are created from pure energy, but it is unclear why the energy available in the early universe did not produce equal amounts of matter and antimatter across the cosmos.

1440 Findings

Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.

  • Posted by

    Antimatter particles possess the same mass and spin as their normal particle counterparts, but possess an opposite charge and transform into pure energy upon colliding with normal matter.

    Antimatter Explained
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    minutephysicshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo8NmoDL9T8

  • Posted by

    Antimatter can be created from dark lightning—high-energy light emitted by deflected electrons after they are accelerated to near the speed of light by thunderstorms.

    NASA | Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes Create Antimatter
    NASA Goddard favicon
    NASA Goddardhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXKt7UVjd-I

  • Posted by

    Antimatter's rarity across the cosmos is one of the biggest problems in modern physics because the high-energy environment of the early universe should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter.

    Where Did the Antimatter Go?
    Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell favicon
    Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshellhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfB2qYJqAkA

  • Posted by

    If they could be built, antimatter drives, which run on energy released from the collision of matter and antimatter particles, would be the most efficient engines in existence.

    Why Antimatter Engines Could Launch In Your Lifetime
    PBS Space Time favicon
    PBS Space Timehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA4X9P98ess

  • Posted by

    While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second.

    This New Element is Lighter than Hydrogen. What?!?!
    SciShow favicon
    SciShowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrabgulN1L8

  • Posted by

    Depictions of antimatter in science fiction include misleading portrayals of it coming from parallel universes, being mined from asteroids, and serving as a workable laser beam.

    Antimatter in Sci-Fi Rundown
    minutephysics favicon
    minutephysicshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIu38oWkCTc

  • Posted by

    The average banana produces one positron—the antimatter counterpart to an electron—every 75 minutes as its trace amounts of radioactive potassium decay.

    Something in Your Kitchen Emits Antimatter
    Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell favicon
    Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshellhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj20omaP7WI

  • Posted by

    PET scans create images of the body by detecting light emitted from the annihilation of matter and antimatter, with the latter produced by custom chemicals containing radioactive atoms.

    How does a PET scan work?
    Imperial College London favicon
    Imperial College Londonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrTy03O0gWw

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