Think about an Anti-you (Matter and Anti-matter)
Bizarre title isn't?
Science is bizarre too
What is matter?
Matter is us; we
are composed of centrally of atoms which have neutrons, protons and electrons
which in turn has quarks (smallest particles discovered), hadrons etc. All of
these are nothing but matter.
Word matter used in post can be substituted by proton,electron,neutron,quarks etc.
Word matter used in post can be substituted by proton,electron,neutron,quarks etc.
Anti-matter: it
can be called as twin of matter; Anti matter has opposite charge to that of
matter, rest all aspects (mass, spin etc.) are same for both. Every matter has
it anti matter counterpart somewhere in our Universe.
How are they
produced?
When we say space
is empty, it literally is not empty but filled with huge amount of energy. Einstein’s
famous equation E=MC2 gives us idea about the conversion of matter and energy,
matter and anti-matter pairs are produced from energy described above. Matter and
Anti-matter must be produced in pairs so that law of conservation of energy is
not broken.
Law of
conservation of energy basically states that a charge (positive or negative
alone) cannot be created or destroyed, however it can be created in matter and
anti-
matter pairs (as charge of these two are exact opposites so net charge remains
zero).
What happens when
anti-matter and matter meet?
They certainly
will not have enough time for a chat, they clash into each other violently and
disappear leaving pure energy, and this energy is equal to amount of energy
expended to create them. This process is called Annihilation of matter and
Anti-matter.
Seconds after big
bang
There should have been equal amounts of matter and anti-matter created as
they are always created in pairs, if that is the case how are we still alive? Annihilation
must’ve occurred long before formation of stars or galaxies yet we live in a
matter dominated world.
Various theories
are developed to account for this discrepancy, few of them are:
One pair in billions
of matter Anti-matter pairs has survived this bulk annihilation; this one
matter particle could’ve been accidentally separated from its counter-part (anti-matter)
and these one in billion matter particles constitute the universe we know
about.
Another theory
says that a disturbance caused in fabric of space-time after big bang set off
matter and anti-matter in opposite paths. According to this theory just like
our world there could be an anti-matter world in some part of universe, it also
says that anti-matter repels gravity (has not been proved) so we still exist. This
allows us with a possibility of finding an Anti-You.
How real is
anti-matter?????
Bananas
produce anti-matter; they release one positron every 75 minutes due to decay of
potassium.
Positron:
anti-matter particle of electron, it has positive charge unlike electron but has
same mass, spin, quantum numbers.
But all anti-matter
produced is short-lived as it annihilates immediately on contact with matter
and we live in matter dominated universe which just increases chances of
annihilation. Anti-matter is a future fuel source as a gram of it can produce
energy equivalent to that of nuclear bomb, backdrop we currently face is in
production and storage of anti-matter.
|
MATTER PARTICLES
|
ANTI-MATTER
|
|
Quarks
|
Anti-quarks
|
|
Electron
|
Positron
|
|
Proton
|
Anti-proton
|
|
Neutron
|
Since it is charge less,
its anti-matter particles is itself
|
|
Leptons
|
Anti-leptons
|
It may not be
advisable to wish of meeting your counter-part (anti-you) for it will end up in
annihilation.
