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Adhruth Ganesh
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If matter and antimatter are placed next to each other, will they attract each other and annihilate ? Do we have strong evidence regarding the existence of anti-matter ?
It depends. If you place an electron and a positron next to each other, they have opposite charges so they will attract, and eventually they will annihilate each other. Look up positronium.Adhruth Ganesh said:If matter and antimatter are placed next to each other, will they attract each other and annihilate ?
Yes. For instance, anti-matter is created all the time is hospitals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission_tomographyAdhruth Ganesh said:Do we have strong evidence regarding the existence of anti-matter ?
.Scott said:Antimatter has been created in labs. It may be the most expensive material man possesses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter#Natural_production
If an anti-matter particle has a charge, it will attract is matter counterpart - because opposite charges attract. Otherwise, there will be gravitation attraction - but that is often very slight.
On Earth, antimatter needs to be kept in magnetic bottles in a vacuum - otherwise it will contact air or the floor of the container.
Thank you so much !DrClaude said:It depends. If you place an electron and a positron next to each other, they have opposite charges so they will attract, and eventually they will annihilate each other. Look up positronium.
If you put a positron next to an anti-proton, they will repel since they have a like charge, and they will never by able to annihilate each other.Yes. For instance, anti-matter is created all the time is hospitals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission_tomography
Drakkith said:Not only is antimatter created and used every single day in many different places around the world, modern particle physics is constructed using a theory that contains antimatter. We crash particles together in colliders and watch what comes out of the collisions, and these events always closely obey our predictions using this theory. If antimatter didn't exist, then our theory is suspiciously accurate for being so wrong. Not only that, but we'd have to come up with an explanation for the particle tracks we see in cloud chambers and other related detectors that don't match any of our 'regular' matter particles. If they aren't antimatter particles, then why are they acting exactly as if they have opposite charge and other properties compared to normal matter particles?
Antimatter is the simplest explanation to all of these issues, and it follows directly from both theory and experience in the early 20th century when we had to explain other effects by proposing the existence of new types of particles. Antimatter is the simplest, least complex explanation that still accurately explains an enormous number of observations and experiments. You will not find another explanation that does so well.
Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. It is made up of particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons. Antimatter is the opposite of matter, with the same mass but opposite charge. It is made up of antiparticles such as antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons.
Matter and antimatter are attracted to each other through the electromagnetic force, just like regular matter. This is because they have opposite charges, causing them to be attracted to each other.
When matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other, releasing a large amount of energy in the form of gamma rays. This process is known as annihilation and is the reason why antimatter is often used as a source of energy in science fiction.
Yes, there is strong evidence for the existence of antimatter. Antimatter particles have been observed in particle accelerators and in cosmic rays. In addition, the Big Bang theory predicts that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created in the early universe, and experiments have shown that this is indeed the case.
Yes, matter and antimatter can be used as a source of energy through the process of annihilation. However, currently, it is not a practical source of energy due to the difficulty in creating and storing antimatter in large quantities. It is also a very expensive process, making it more suitable for scientific research rather than energy production.