Can anyone tell me exactly what anti matter is, even though I watch tons of programmes I still cant grasp it?

Question

Thanks for that I am now well and truly in the know, and I can watch programmes and explain to my little peers jst what the F@&k it all means. :O)

Answer 1

Antimatter is made up of particles that are just like particles of regular matter, except that they have opposite charges. Their masses and spins are the same, though. If a particle and its antiparticle come into contact, they annihilate into pure energy according to E=mc^2. Antimatter is not known to occur in nature. If it did, it would have to be very distant from Earth, and could not exist in a galaxy with regular matter in it, since the interstellar medium would quickly erode it into energy.

Answer 2

It's amazing how none of the descriptions of matter contained any names of the actual particles making up matter!

Matter is made of molecules and atoms, molecules being sets of different atoms bonded together, like H2O (water), CH4 (methane) and so on up to DNA.

Atoms of the same sort on their own are elements, as found in the Periodic Table of Elements: carbon, oxygen etc.

Atoms can be viewed as a central nucleus containing protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of orbiting electons. A proton has a positive charge, neutrons are...neutral... and an electron has a negative charge. Although they carry the same amount of (opposite) charge, the proton is over 2000 times heavier than the electron, so the bulk of the mass of an atom resides in the nucleus augmented by the mass of the neutron that are fractionally heavier than protons.

The number of positive protons in the nucleus of an atom defines the element and in the neutral atom this number is exactly balanced by the number of orbiting negative electrons.

In antimatter, the 'protons' are replaced by negatrons, with a negative charge; the 'electrons' are replaced by positrons (so beloved of Star Trek). The neutrons are also antimatter but the explanation of how this is would make this too long.

A neutral anti-atom has the same mass as normal matter but has a negative nucleus exactly balanced by orbiting positrons. The same set of anti-elements as exist in normal matter would make up the anti-matter Periodic Table; so you would have anti-carbon, anti-iron, etc. And of course anti-molecules of every description.

As long as it is kept separate from normal matter there is no problem but as already pointed out if matter comes into contact with anti-matter there is mutual, total annihilation. Small amounts, a few atoms, of anti-matter have been created in high energy accellerators but cannot be stored, for obvious reasons.

Answer 3

You know what a Star is. You know what a planet is. These are Matter. You know what an atom is, this is matter.
You know the concept of a black hole?
The stuff in the center and beyond is essiantially anti matter.
Two Posative Electrons and one Negative elctron reverse the fields, ++ and - to -- and + the second is the Anti matter of the first. That is not an exact equation, but the idea rings true.

Answer 4

utilising the restroom. Even that is basically for a couple of minutes, time is positioned aside to bypass ;-] Bq: i do not positioned something to the side for artwork anymore. genuinely, each from time to time I positioned off artwork a lot that there are weeks that i visit basically bypass into the workplace 2 or 3 situations.

Answer 5

If something matters to you this is the opposite, anti matter

Answer 6

the matter has opposite charges

Answer 7

Read Dan Brown - Angels and Demons.

Answer 8

happens to me too