Antimatter consists of "negative" particles called positrons which directly oppose matter. If a particle and an anti-particle collide, they annihilate each other and leave behind a burst of energy. This does not violate the theory of matter and energy creation and destruction, rather the two particles become the energy from the collision. Thwe following is a quote by the Stanford online News Service: "The Big Bang, according to the most basic physical laws, created equal amounts of matter and antimatter. Whenever a particle of matter meets its antimatter twin, they annihilate each other, leaving behind only a burst of energy. The particles of energy -- photons -- zipping through the universe today are evidence that a lot of annihilations took place. However, the fact that we are here is proof that the annihilation was incomplete: There is one particle of matter for every billion photons. It's the cause of this one-in-a-billion imbalance that scientists are trying to understand." (Stanford News Service)
Antimatter is not just a theory: it has been artifically produced in science lab experiments! In 2008, physicist Hui Chen, who works at the Jupiter laser facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has discovered that shooting a laser through a piece of gold the size of a pin head produces over 10 billion positrons of antimatter! "'We’ve detected far more anti-matter than anyone else has ever measured in a laser experiment,' said Hui Chen, who led the experiment. 'We’ve demonstrated the creation of a significant number of positrons using a short-pulse laser.'” (Sciencedaily.com)
Discovering the secrets of antimatter is a huge step towards understanding our universe. If scientists can figure out why there is more matter in the universe than antimatter, they may be able to uncover new information about the origin of the Big Bang.
Calder, Neil. "Antimatter experiment hits a key milestone." 19 July, 2004. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2004/luminosity-719.html>.
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "Billions Of Particles Of Anti-matter Created In Laboratory." ScienceDaily 18 November 2008. 8 November 2009
http://www.sciencedaily.com/.
Antimatter is not just a theory: it has been artifically produced in science lab experiments! In 2008, physicist Hui Chen, who works at the Jupiter laser facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has discovered that shooting a laser through a piece of gold the size of a pin head produces over 10 billion positrons of antimatter! "'We’ve detected far more anti-matter than anyone else has ever measured in a laser experiment,' said Hui Chen, who led the experiment. 'We’ve demonstrated the creation of a significant number of positrons using a short-pulse laser.'” (Sciencedaily.com)
Discovering the secrets of antimatter is a huge step towards understanding our universe. If scientists can figure out why there is more matter in the universe than antimatter, they may be able to uncover new information about the origin of the Big Bang.
Sources
Calder, Neil. "Antimatter experiment hits a key milestone." 19 July, 2004. 8 Nov. 2009 <http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2004/luminosity-719.html
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "Billions Of Particles Of Anti-matter Created In Laboratory." ScienceDaily 18 November 2008. 8 November 2009
Photo from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/antimatter1.htm. Image was taken by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.
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