Sheets.256 said:I was hoping to learn a little bit more about matter-antimatter annihilation. As I understand it, when a particle meets an antiparticle, they are both annihilated and energy is produced. Does this contradict the laws of conservation of energy and conservation of matter? I haven't had much luck finding the answer online or in other threads here, but if there's anything you could refer me to, I would appreciate it.
Matter/antimatter annihilation is a process in which a particle and its corresponding antiparticle come into contact and are completely converted into energy. This process is governed by Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2, which states that mass and energy are interchangeable.
Matter/antimatter annihilation can occur naturally in high-energy environments, such as in stars or during cosmic ray collisions. It can also be artificially produced in particle accelerators by colliding particles and antiparticles at high speeds.
The mass of the particle and antiparticle is completely converted into energy in the form of photons (particles of light). This means that the total mass before and after the annihilation remains the same, as dictated by the law of conservation of mass.
The conservation of mass is a fundamental law of physics that states that mass cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed into different forms. This means that in any physical or chemical process, the total mass of the reactants must equal the total mass of the products.
Yes, matter/antimatter annihilation has been used in medical imaging and cancer treatment, as well as in the production of nuclear energy. However, harnessing the energy from matter/antimatter annihilation on a large scale is currently not feasible due to the difficulty in producing and storing antimatter.