Antimatter matters, because it is one of the fundamental building blocks of nature.
Every elementary particle in the Universe appears to have a partner particle called its antiparticle with which it shares some characteristics, but has other characteristics that are opposite to it.
For example, the electron has as its antiparticle the anti-electron. The electron and the anti-electron have exactly the same masses, but they have exactly opposite electrical charges.
Imagine a hot metal sheet from which you are cutting out circular disks. When you cut a disk from the sheet, you are leaving behind a hole (you may call it an ‘anti-disk’) with exactly the same dimensions.
Matter and antimatter (particle and antiparticle) are related to each other the same way.
Antiparticles are denoted my placing a bar above the symbol for a given particle. For example, the proton is denoted p, so the anti-proton is denoted as p with a bar over it.
Mass-Energy Equivalence
Considering the vast amount of energy hidden in matter, we may say matter is simply a reservoir of energy, which can be calculated using Einstein’s equation:E=mc².
Can energy be converted into mass or vice-versa?
Yes, they can be.
Let’s first take the case of converting energy into mass, a phenomenon called ‘pair production‘ and which has fascinated people with the idea of creating something from nothing – ‘nothing’, because you do not see the energy that created the matter.
Energy to Mass: Pair production
Nuclei are made up of protons and neutron. Due to very small distance between two protons, they exert a very large force of repulsion on each other. Therefore to prevent nucleus from bursting, certain amount of energy needed to bind the nucleus. This energy needed is known as Binding Energy.
It has been found that the mass of a nucleus is always less than the sum of the individual masses of the protons and neutrons which constitute it. This mass defect provides the required binding energy. The binding energy is the energy equivalent to mass defect. Binding energy of a nucleus may also be defined as the amount of work required to separate the nucleons at infinite distance.
Similarly, the negatively charged electron is attracted to the positively charged nucleus. The amount of energy that is required to be given to the electron to pull it away from this attractive (Coulombic) force is called the binding energy of the electron.
Every elementary particle in the Universe appears to have a partner particle called its antiparticle with which it shares some characteristics, but has other characteristics that are opposite to it.
For example, the electron has as its antiparticle the anti-electron. The electron and the anti-electron have exactly the same masses, but they have exactly opposite electrical charges.
Imagine a hot metal sheet from which you are cutting out circular disks. When you cut a disk from the sheet, you are leaving behind a hole (you may call it an ‘anti-disk’) with exactly the same dimensions.
Matter and antimatter (particle and antiparticle) are related to each other the same way.
Antiparticles are denoted my placing a bar above the symbol for a given particle. For example, the proton is denoted p, so the anti-proton is denoted as p with a bar over it.
Mass-Energy Equivalence
Considering the vast amount of energy hidden in matter, we may say matter is simply a reservoir of energy, which can be calculated using Einstein’s equation:E=mc².
Can energy be converted into mass or vice-versa?
Yes, they can be.
Let’s first take the case of converting energy into mass, a phenomenon called ‘pair production‘ and which has fascinated people with the idea of creating something from nothing – ‘nothing’, because you do not see the energy that created the matter.
Energy to Mass: Pair production
Nuclei are made up of protons and neutron. Due to very small distance between two protons, they exert a very large force of repulsion on each other. Therefore to prevent nucleus from bursting, certain amount of energy needed to bind the nucleus. This energy needed is known as Binding Energy.
It has been found that the mass of a nucleus is always less than the sum of the individual masses of the protons and neutrons which constitute it. This mass defect provides the required binding energy. The binding energy is the energy equivalent to mass defect. Binding energy of a nucleus may also be defined as the amount of work required to separate the nucleons at infinite distance.
Similarly, the negatively charged electron is attracted to the positively charged nucleus. The amount of energy that is required to be given to the electron to pull it away from this attractive (Coulombic) force is called the binding energy of the electron.
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