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Antimatter is matter that is made of antiparticles. These are particles with the same characteristics as matter but with the opposite charge. Every component of matter at an atomic level has an antiparticle, except for photons. If the symbol of a proton is p, its antiparticle symbol will be \(\bar p\), and this is true for neutrons and neutrinos but not for electrons whose symbol is e+.
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Team Antiparticles Teachers
Paul Dirac first theorised antiparticles, but the first to discover an antiparticle was Carl Anderson when he found the antiparticles of an electron, also named positrons.
Antiparticles are the blocks that make antimatter. There is an antiparticle for every subatomic particle in the nucleus and orbit of an atom. Protons, neutrons, neutrinos, and electrons all have antiparticles. The characteristics of antiparticles are similar to particles; they just differ in their charge. Antiparticles can be created by radioactive decay processes in the atom. They can also interact with matter, leading to an annihilation process.
See the following table of particles and antiparticles:
| Particle | Proton | Neutron | Electron | Neutrino |
| symbol | p | n | e- | v |
| Antiparticle | Antiproton | Antineutron | positron | Antineutrino |
| symbol | \(\bar p\) | \(\bar{n}\) | e+ | \(\bar{v}\) |
Antiparticles and particles have the same mass and energy at rest; the only difference is their charge. The charge of a positron is \(1.6022 \cdot 10 ^ {-19}C\), which is the opposite of an electron charge, which has a value of \(-1.6022 \cdot 10 ^ {-19}C\). The same occurs with protons, which have a positive charge for normal matter and a negative charge for the antiproton.
When matter and antimatter interact, they destroy each other. This destruction has three main characteristics:
In some cases, a photon can interact with a particle, which creates a pair of particles. The event is accordingly named pair creation, and the pair consists of a particle and its antiparticle.
Energy must be conserved during pair creation. A photon has a certain amount of energy (X), and the energy of the two particles created (Y and Z) must be equal to the total energy of the photon that created them. The conservation of energy is expressed more simply below:
\(\text{Photon energy = Energy particle created + Energy antiparticle created}\)
To calculate the energy of the impact between matter and antimatter, we need to obtain the total energy of the photon released during the collision. This energy is a relationship between the light velocity ‘c’, the Planck constant ‘h’, and the photon’s wavelength ‘λ’. The formula to calculate this is as follows:
\(\text{Energy} = \frac{c \cdot h}{\lambda}\)
Here is a simple example:
Calculate the energy released by a collision between a particle and an antiparticle.
The photon released by the collision has a wavelength of 0.005 nanometres. To calculate the released energy, you need to convert the number of nanometres to metres. One nanometre is equal to \(1 \cdot 10 ^ {-9}\) metres, so you need to multiply 0.005 by \(1 \cdot 10 ^ {-9}\) metres:
\(\text{Wavelenght} = (1 \cdot 10^{-9}) \cdot (5 \cdot 10^{-3}) = 5 \cdot 10^{-12} [m]\)
Now you need to multiply the approximate velocity of light in the vacuum by the Planck constant ‘h’, which has a value of \(6.63 \cdot 10 ^ {-34}J / s\):
\(c \cdot h = (3 \cdot 10^8 [m/s]) \cdot (6.63 \cdot 10^{-34}[Js]) = 1.989 \cdot 10^{-25} [Jm]\)
Then you need to divide this by the wavelength of the released photon. The results are expressed in the energy units joules (J):
\(\text{Energy} = \frac{c \cdot h}{\lambda} = \frac{1.989 \cdot 10^{-25}}{5 \cdot 10^{-12}} = 3.978 \cdot 10^{-14} [J]\)
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What is an antiparticle?
An antiparticle is a particle that has the same mass but the opposite charge to a particle.
Does every particle have an antiparticle?
No, photons do not have antiparticles.
What is the antiparticle of a proton?
An antiproton.
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