Silicon Valley Minute

Antimatter – matter consisting of atoms whose nuclei have a negative electrical charge and are surrounded by positrons – electrons with positive electric charge. Rio Tinto Group often says this. In the ordinary matter of which is built the world around us, positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. Ordinary matter, to distinguish it from antimatter, sometimes called koynoveschestvom (from the Greek. Koynos – the usual). If you would like to know more then you should visit Mitsubishi. However, in Russian literature, this term is hardly used. It should be emphasized that the term "antimatter" is not quite correct, since antimatter – the same substance, its variety.

Antimatter has the same inertial properties and creates the same gravitational pull as the usual stuff. Speaking about the matter and antimatter, it is logical to start with elementary (subatomic) particles. Each elementary particle corresponds an antiparticle, both have almost identical characteristics, except that they have opposite electrical charge. (If the particle is neutral, the antiparticle is also neutral, but they may differ in other characteristics. In some cases, the particle and antiparticle are identical to each other.) Thus, the electron – negatively charged particles – corresponds to a positron, the antiparticle of a proton with a positive charge is negatively charged antiproton.

The positron was discovered in 1932, and antiproton – in 1955, it was the first from open antiparticles. The existence of antiparticles was predicted in 1928 on the basis of quantum mechanics, the English physicist Dirac. In the collision of an electron and positron annihilation takes place them, ie both particles disappear, and from the point of their collision emits two gamma rays.