• Question: Explain the logic of anti matter

    Asked by Lil_Doomerang to Xu, Leah-Nani, Kathryn, Ian, Hina, Andrew on 14 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 14 Jun 2018:

      Anti-matter are particles with the same mass but opposite charge. You may be familiar with the electron, the tiny particles which have negative charge. They are a key component of atoms and their flow is what we call electricity! What is much less common is the positron, identical to an electron but with positive charge. One of the great mysteries of modern physics is why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the universe.

    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 15 Jun 2018:

      The idea is that every particle has an opposite. Electrons (matter) have positrons (antimatter), for instance. When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate and produce gamma rays.

    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 20 Jun 2018:

      All subatomic particles (well actually just a sub set called Fermions I think), have an antimatter equivalent; an opposite.
      It’s a bit like if a subatomic particle looked in the mirror, the backwards reflection would be its antimatter counterpart, an electron would see a positron.
      These twins don’t lie being near each other though, when a matter particle collides with it’s anti-matter equivalent thy destroy each other and their energy is released.

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