Everything is made of tiny bits.
Some bits have a twin. The twin is the opposite. They can touch and go poof! They turn into light. It is like magic. Do you see the tiny bits?
Everything is made of tiny bits.
Some bits have a twin. This twin is called an antiparticle.
These twins are not the same. They have the same weight. But their charges are opposite.
One bit might have a negative charge. Its twin will have a positive charge.
If a bit and its twin touch, they go poof! They disappear and turn into light.
Scientists use big machines to make these twins. It is a very amazing part of our world.
Everything in our world is made of tiny bits. These bits are called particles.
Many particles have a special twin. We call this twin an antiparticle.
An antiparticle is very much like its partner. They have the same mass, which is how much they weigh. But they have opposite electric charges. For example, an electron has a negative charge. Its twin is called a positron. The positron has a positive charge.
When a particle and an antiparticle meet, something big happens. They can annihilate each other. This means they destroy one another. When they do this, they turn into light called photons.
Scientists have found these twins in many ways. Some are made by cosmic rays hitting our air. Others are made in big machines called particle accelerators. These machines can make pairs of particles at the same time. This is called pair production. We can even use these facts to help doctors. They use a tool called PET scans to see inside the body. This tool uses the light made when positrons meet electrons.
Everything in our universe is made of tiny building blocks called particles. Most of these particles belong to what we call ordinary matter. However, many particles have a special partner known as an antiparticle.
An antiparticle is almost a mirror image of its partner. They have the exact same mass, which is how much they weigh. But they have opposite electric charges. For example, an electron has a negative charge. Its twin is the positron, which has a positive charge.
When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they undergo a process called annihilation. This means they destroy each other instantly. When they annihilate, they turn into energy in the form of light called photons. Because the charges are opposite, the total charge stays the same after they vanish. This is a rule called conservation of charge. This process happens naturally in some types of radioactive decay. Doctors even use this to help people. They use a tool called positron emission tomography, or a PET scan, to see inside the body.
Scientists have worked for a long time to understand these twins. In 1932, a scientist named Carl D. Anderson found positrons. He used a device called a cloud chamber to see them. These particles were made when cosmic rays hit the Earth's atmosphere. Later, in 1955, Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain found the antiproton and antineutron. They did this work at the University of California, Berkeley. Since then, we have found many more antiparticles using huge machines.
We can create these particles in special places like particle accelerators. One famous machine is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. These machines use a method called pair production. This is when a particle and its antiparticle are created at the same time.
This is necessary because you cannot create just one antiparticle alone. You must also create a regular particle to keep the charges balanced. Some particles, like the photon, are unique because they are their own antiparticle.
Thinking about antimatter helps us wonder about the history of our world. Scientists believe the universe began with the Big Bang. At that time, there may have been equal amounts of matter and antimatter. If there were, they should have all annihilated each other. Yet, our universe is made almost entirely of regular matter. We still do not have a fully satisfactory answer for why this happened. It is one of the great mysteries of science today.
In the study of particle physics, every type of particle in ordinary matter has a corresponding partner. This partner is known as an antiparticle.
While they are distinct, they are deeply connected by the laws of nature. An antiparticle possesses the exact same mass as its particle partner. However, it carries opposite physical charges, such as an electric charge. This relationship creates a fundamental symmetry in the way the universe is built. Scientists designate the particle we interact with in daily life as the "normal" particle. The partner is usually given the prefix "anti-" to identify it.
When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they undergo a process called annihilation. During annihilation, the two particles destroy each other instantly. This interaction results in the production of photons, which are particles of light. Because the electric charges of the pair are opposites, the total charge remains conserved. This means the net charge of the system does not change after the particles vanish. This process occurs naturally during certain types of radioactive decay. For instance, positrons are produced in natural beta decay. This specific phenomenon is exploited in medical technology called positron emission tomography, or PET scans.
There are several different types of these particle pairs. Some particles, such as the photon, are unique because they are their own antiparticle. Other particles are electrically neutral but still have distinct antiparticles. For example, the neutron and the antineutron are different from one another. We can also categorize these into different groups like quarks and leptons. Antiquarks include the up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom varieties. Antileptons include the positron and the antineutrinos. Even more complex structures exist, such as antiprotons and antineutrons, which are known as antibaryons.
The history of discovering antimatter began with theoretical predictions. In 1930, Paul Dirac published a paper regarding the theory of electrons and protons. He used the Dirac equation to describe how particles behave. His solutions suggested the existence of negative energy states. To explain this, he proposed the "Dirac sea" theory. He imagined the universe was filled with a sea of negative-energy electrons. He suggested that a "hole" in this sea would act like a particle with a positive charge. While he initially thought these holes were protons, they were actually positrons.
Experimental proof followed shortly after Dirac's theoretical work. In 1932, Carl D. Anderson discovered the positron using a cloud chamber. A cloud chamber is a detector that shows trails left by moving particles in gas. Anderson observed cosmic-ray collisions in the Earth's atmosphere to find them. He measured the charge-to-mass ratio by looking at how particle paths curled in a magnetic field. Later, in 1955, Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain discovered the antiproton and antineutron. They conducted their research at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, scientists use massive particle accelerators to create antimatter. One such machine is the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Creating antimatter requires specific physical conditions to maintain balance. Because electric charge is conserved, you cannot simply create a single antiparticle alone. You must either destroy an existing particle of the same charge or use pair production. Pair production is a process where a particle and its antiparticle are created simultaneously. This occurs in high-energy environments like particle accelerators. In recent years, scientists have even assembled complete atoms of antimatter. They do this by collecting antiprotons and positrons in electromagnetic traps. This shows how precisely we can now manipulate these rare building blocks.
The existence of antimatter leads to profound questions about our cosmic origins. Scientists believe the universe began with the Big Bang. It is theorized that there may have been a mixture of matter and antimatter at that time. If the amounts were perfectly equal, they would have annihilated each other completely. This would have left a universe filled only with light. However, our universe consists almost entirely of ordinary matter. The discovery of charge parity violation showed that the symmetry is not perfect. It is only approximate. Why the universe ended up with more matter than antimatter remains an unanswered mystery.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (2)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.