JamesJohanson

PHYS1010
H.Demars
Antimatter

Therearemanymysteriesintheuniversetoday.Oneofthegreatestmysteriesofallis
thatofantimatter.Hardlyanythingisknownaboutantimatter,yetitcontinuestoimpactthe
universeeverysingleday.Thiskindofthingiswhatkeepsphysicistsupatnight.Many
speculationsandpredictionshavebeenmadereferringtoantimatter,buttheresearchbehinditis
easiersaidthandone.Somequestionsyoumayaskare:Whatisit,wherediditcomefrom,or
whatareitsuses?Thesearethequestionsthatwillbeansweredthroughoutthisessay.
Now,letsstartwiththefirstquestion.Whatisantimatter?Antimatteristheoppositeof
normalmatter.Thatistosay,antimatterparticleshavereversechargesofnormalmatter
particles.Atomsaremadeupofthreethings:protons,neutrons,andelectrons.Antimatteris
madeupofthreethings:antiprotons,neutrons,andpositrons.Eachofthesesubparticlescontains
theirowncharge.Protonshaveapositivecharge,neutronshaveaneutralcharge,andelectrons
haveanegativecharge.Eachsubparticleshavetheirownpurposewithintheatom.Within
antimatter,antiprotonsbehavelikeprotons,positronsbehavelikeelectrons,andneutronsbehave
likeneutrons.Theonlydifferenceisthatthechargesarereversed.Whileprotonshaveapositive
charge,antiprotonshaveanegativecharge.Whileelectronshaveanegativecharge,positrons
haveapositive.Theonlysubparticlethatstaysthesameisneutrons,sinceputtinganegativein
frontofzerodoesnothing.Theinterestingthingabouttheopposingsubparticlesisthattheir
purposeisthesame,yettheirchargeisdifferent.Howcouldsomethinglikeantimatterbe
discovered?Well,antimatterwasfirstdiscoveredbyaBritishphysicistnamePaulDiracin1928.
HereceivedaNobelPeacePrizeforthediscoveryin1933.Ithappenedwhenhecameupwith
anequationwhichcombinedEinsteinsspecialrelativityequationandquantummechanics.In
mathematics,therearemanyinstanceswhereyougettwoanswerstoaquestion,usuallywith

onebeingpositiveandonebeingnegative.Thiswasoneofthoseinstances.Diracdiscovered
thatthereweretwoequalandoppositeanswers.Normallywhenapplyingmathematicsto
realworldsituations,suchasscience,youwouldsimplydisregardthenegativeanswer.
However,Diracnoticedthatthenegativeanswerwasrelevanttothesituation,andhepredicted
antimatterexisted.ThiswaslaterconfirmedbyascientistnamedCarlB.Anderson,who
discoveredpositronsin1932.
Now,whereexactlydidantimattercomefrom?Antimattercamefromthesameplace
normalmattercamefrom.TheonlytheorywhichscientificallyexplainsthisistheBigBang
Theory.InthefirstmomentsaftertheBigBang,onlyenergyexisted.Astheuniversebeganto
coolandexpand,bothmatterandantimatterwerecreatedinequalhalves.Todayantimatterisfar
morerarethannormalmatteris.Scientistsstillwondertodaywhymattercametodominatethe
universe.Onetheorysuggeststhatmorenormalmatterwascreatedinthebeginningratherthan
antimatter.Thoughthiswouldnotmakemuchsense,sinceeachparticleofmattersupposedly
hasitsveryowncounterpart.Theonlythingthescientificworldissureof,isthatthereismuch
morematterthanantimattertoday.Otherpropertiesofantimatterareregardedinthroughoutthe
scientific.NASAquicklydiscoveredthatantimatterisNOTantigravity.Antimattersupposedly
reactstogravitythesamewaythatnormalmatterdoes.Whatisitaboutthisantimatterthatisso
special?Ifitreactsthesamewaytogravitywhydoweneedtoknowaboutit?Whydowecare
aboutit?Thesearethekindsofquestionsthatleadintothenextquestion.
Whataretheusesofantimatter?Istheresomepropertyofantimatterthatmakesituseful
toscientists?Actually,thereis.Yousee,whenantimatterandmatterinteract,theyannihilate
eachotherandproduceenergy.Thisalsohelpstoprovethatmatterissimplycondensedenergy.

Ifyouweretogatherasmuchenergyinonelocationaspossibleyouwouldbegintogetrandom
particlestoappear.Theenergyproducedfromthatchemicalreactioncanbeusedtopower
variousthings.Allthissuggestsisthatthepossibilitiesarefarcloserthantheyveeverbeen.
Manyhavewonderediftheycouldrunspaceshipsoffofthiskindoffission.NASAhasbeen
studyingthisaswell,andhavediscoveredthatitmaybepossiblein4060years.Theonly
problemisthatitcostsatontomakethathappen.Itcosts$100billiondollarstodayjusttomake
onemilligramofantimatter.Whichisfarmorethanscientistsneed,butitisjustenoughforitto
bescientificallyprovenonalargescalebasis.NASAhasevendescribedawaytomakethis
possible:
Thedesigncallsforpelletsof
deuteriumandtritium
(heavyhydrogenisotopeswithoneortwo
neutronsintheirnuclei,unlikecommonhydrogenthathasnoneutrons).Anantiprotonbeam
wouldthenbebeamedintothepellets,whichwouldbashagainstalayerofuraniumembedded
inside.Aftertheantiprotonsstriketheuranium,bothwouldbedestroyedandcreatefission
productsthatwouldsparkafusionreaction.Properlydirected,thiscouldmakeaspacecraft
move.
Withthecostofmakingantimatterbeingsohigh,itappearstobeseeminglyimpossible
torunatoaster,letaloneaspaceshipoffofthiskindofenergyinanefficientmanner.Perhaps
onedaytheawesomepowerofantimattercanbeusedtodoallsortsofthings,butfornow,we
canonlyspeculate.Antimatterexists,butitsuptotherisinggenerationtodiscoveritspotential
andtoharnessitspower.

Bibliography

1. Websitearticle
http://www.particleadventure.org/antimatter.html
2. WebsitearticlebyCERN
http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/antimatter
3. WebsitearticlebyNASA
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/antistat.html
4. Websitearticle
http://www.livescience.com/32387whatisantimatter.html
5. Websitearticle
http://www.askamathematician.com/2010/01/qisittruethatallmatterissimplyconden
sedenergy/