What Happens when an anti-matter atom and a matter atom combines?

Question

An anti-matter atom consists of:
-Positrons-electrons that carry a positive charge
-Anti-protons-protons that carry a negative charge

Answer 1

They annihilate each other and become a gamma ray.

Answer 2

Nothing. They would form a big black hole. To physics the sign of the charge of a lepton does not matter. Well, almost. It matters for some cross sections involving neutrinos and that matters for the early universe where more matter than anti-matter was left at the end of the day. And that matters to us because we are not made of light and neutrinos. But in a black hole it does not matter. By the time matter disappears below the event horizon, the weak interaction, which is the only thing that distinguishes matter and anti-matter, has nothing to say any more. Near the singularity electromagnetic force, strong force and weak force vanish and become united with gravity to THE FORCE. And THE FORCE makes no distinction between matter and anti-matter. So while you are asking a rather interesting question, the answer is rather boring. :-)

Answer 3

The particles will combine and annihilate each other. However, you have left out the anti-neutrons, unless it is only anti-hydrogen that you have. This happens all the time in "empty" space. Matter and anti-matter pairs pop out of nothingness for a short time, and then annihilate each other. This has a measurable effect, that is called vacuum polariztation that has been measured and found to be correct to 18 decimal places. This all happens because Planck's Constant is NOT zero.

Answer 4

It is next to impossible to create antimatter, because it is unstable. Antiparticles are routinely created in accelerators, but are not formed into atoms of matter.

However, if an atom and anti atom of hydrogen were to combine it would release about 3 x 10^-10 Joules. This would be completely undetectable without special equipment.

Answer 5

You don't want to be around when it happens. The resultant release of energy will instantly vapourize all things, living or dead, within miles and miles. (Pure scientific explanation aside). Basicaly the matter and anti-matter that is there will zero each other out, and since mass and energy can neither be created or destroyed, the change in matter is released as an energy blast. You know when a cartoon character touches an electrical circuit and you see a skeleton for a second... it's just like that, although a billion times stronger and furhter reaching, in 1/10,000 of a second.

Answer 6

When a particle collides (annihilates) with its antimatter counterpart, they are both "destroyed". Technically, though, due to the law of conservation of energy, nuclear energy is converted to electromagnetic energy in the form of 2 gamma rays.

Answer 7

p+ + p- ---> photon energy; is one matter p+ anti matter p- conversion. [See source.]

One reason we fail to find anti matter as commonplace as matter in our universe is because antimatter tends to have a very very short half life. In other words, antimatter will spontaneously become something else (energy or energy plus matter), while matter typically just hangs around.

WAGs speculate that, just after the big bang, the universe contained a nearly equal amount of matter and anti matter. But the balance quickly shifted in matter's favor as the anti matter collided with matter and/or snuffed out spontaneously.

Answer 8

They destroy each other