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What is antimatter ? Please explain

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Asked by : anantharaman |  03 Nov 06:53 am

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1. 

Antimatter is a form of matter in which each particle (for example an electron) has the opposite set of quantum properties (such as electic charge) to its counterpart. The classic example of a particle of antimatter (an antiparticle) is the antielectron (or positron), which has the same mass as an electron but a positive charge instead of a negative charge. The existance of antielectrons was predicted by Paul Dirac, at the end of the 1920s, when he found that the equation which represents a complete description of the electron in terms of both quantum mechanics and the special theory of relativity has two sets of solutions, one courresponding to negatively charged particles and one to positively charged particles.

Says Prasoon Sinha 03 Nov 08:22 am

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2. 

Everything made of matter physicists call particles: electrons, protons and neutrons. These particles have been mysterious for quite some time: although physicists knew they existed, they knew very little about them. In physics, you can say you "know" something when, among other proprieties ,you can predict and describe the way it behaves. You know that a stone will fall if it's not held properly. Physicist can describe how it falls and predict exactly where it will touch the ground using mathematical formulas.But physicists couldn't predict anything about the electron! Until a very smart guy named Paul Dirac thought about it: he found a very simple way to describe the proprieties and behavior of electrons, but... there was something curious about it! His description would only work if the electron had a "twin" particle, identical to it but with an opposite electric charge. It would be just like its mirror image!
He called it an antielectron or POSITRON. Of course, the same would be ...more

Says inquisitive 03 Nov 07:17 am

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3. 

Antimatter is a large subject which is covered through all the science fields. Antimatter or antiparticles is often called the "mirror image" of ordinary matter. For every type of ordinary matter particle, an antimatter particle can be created that is identical in characteristics except for an opposite electric charge and some other properties like magnetic moment. While staying with the topic of astronomy, this paper will describe the discovery of antimatter, the origins of antimatter, and antimatter as energy.
To describe antimatter we must first look at the history in its discovery. The history of discovering antimatter begins in 1929 by the proposal of an English Physicist named Paul Dirac. In attempting to combine quantum mechanics with special relativity to describe the behavior of an electron, he found that the solutions of the equation which showed that if matter is created from energy then an equal amount of antimatter is also created. For example, the equation, X squared equ ...more

Says radhakrishnan 03 Nov 07:52 am

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4. 

Antimatter is that which when merged with same amount of matter creates null matter

Says Sucheeta Smiles 05 Nov 01:11 am

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5. 

The positively charged antimatter sub-atomic particle called the "positron" does exist. It's been created and it's effects have been observed (for a very short period of time) thanks to some of the particle accelerators on the earth. It's like an electron, only it has a positive charge. I doubt there are any antimatter sources anywhere near enough to us, or massive enough, to be seen with the human eye, though(Source"Yahoo answers)

Says radhikamruta 04 Nov 06:00 pm

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6. 

Matter consisting of elementary particles that are the antiparticles of those making up normal substances.
In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, an antielectron (a positron, an electron with a positive charge) and an antiproton (a proton with a negative charge) could form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter and antimatter would lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particleantiparticle pairs.

There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, whether there exist other places that are almost entirely antimatter instead, and what might be possible ...more

Says saranathan Narasimhan 04 Nov 04:03 pm

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7. 

Matter consisting of elementary particles that are the antiparticles of those making up normal substances.

Says Somprabh Srivastava 04 Nov 03:58 pm

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8. 

Antimatter is a form of matter in which each particle (for example an electron) has the opposite set of quantum

Says prashant prashar 04 Nov 02:17 pm

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9. 

The body has a sole so does every matter and the origin or the source of all the soles is antimatter. Antimatter is the place where all the matter is designed and constructed so that galaxies can be formed.

Says manoj thakur 04 Nov 11:22 am

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10. 

Though failed to prove its existance Prof. Sudarsan Proposed the existance of antimatter in the Universe.Under his consideration positively charged particles rotate round the neucleus of an atom that has negatively charged particlesIf matter & antimatter come in contact it will be a total destruction.According to Einstein maximum velocity of matter is 300000000 m/s approximately, where as that is the minimum velocity of antimatter. His assumption were to explain some o the cosmic phenomena.

Says Santiranjan Pal 03 Nov 07:18 am

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