5 Facts About Antimatter | #shorts #antimatter
Channel: Quantum Leap
Date: 2024-02-04

Here are five facts about antimatter: A mirror Image of Reality
Particle physicists say that every particle has an antiparticle counterpart, a mirror image with opposite charge. Since first proposed by physicist Paul Dirac in 1928, they are confirmed by numerous experiments tokens of our understanding of the subatomic world.
The antiparticle of an electron, known as a positron, was first observed in cosmic rays by Carl Anderson in 1932. Similarly, antiprotons and antineutrons were discovered in the mid-20th century.
When a particle encounters its antiparticle they annihilate each other and their masses convert into energy as predicted by Einstein (E=mc^2). This process releases energy far more efficiently than even nuclear fusion making antimatter a potential, albeit currently impractical, source of power.
Antimatter is produced daily in particle accelerators for use in research and medical imaging such as PET scan. However, the production of antimatter is currently a costly and energy-intensive process. And storage of antimatter is a huge challenge because it annihilates upon contact with ordinary matter.
Antimatter also raises questions about the nature of the universe. The Big Bang should have created equal amounts of matter and antimatter, yet we live in a universe dominated by matter. This apparent asymmetry, known as the baryon asymmetry problem, is one of the great unsolved mysteries in physics.
An antimatter rocket propulsion system would use the energy of matter-antimatter annihilation. In theory, such a system could achieve a highly efficient propulsion and reach speeds close to the speed of light.


Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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