antiparticle
Sign in to savethumb|alt=Diagram illustrating the particles and antiparticles of electron, neutron and proton, as well as their "size" (not to scale). It is easier to identify them by looking at the total mass of both the antiparticle and particle. On the left, from top to bottom, is shown an electron (small red dot), a proton (big blue dot), and a neutron (big dot, black in the middle, gradually fading to white near the edges). On the right, from top to bottom, are shown the anti electron (small blue dot), anti proton (big red dot) and anti neutron (big dot, white in the middle, fading to black near the edg
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An antiparticle is a particle that has the same mass as its corresponding regular particle but opposite properties, such as opposite electrical charge. When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they annihilate each other, which is significant because this process converts their combined mass into energy.
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Article
13 sectionsContents
- History
- Experiment
- Dirac hole theory
- Elementary antiparticles
- Composite antiparticles
- Particle–antiparticle annihilation
- Properties
- Quantum field theory
- Feynman–Stückelberg interpretation <!--'[[Feynman–Stueckelberg interpretation]]', '[[Feynman-Stueckelberg interpretation]]', '[[Stueckelberg–Feynman interpretation]]', '[[Stueckelberg-Feynman interpretation]]', '[[Feynman–Stückelberg interpretation]]', '[[Feynman-Stückelberg interpretation]]', '[[Stückelberg–Feynman interpretation]]', and '[[Stückelberg-Feynman interpretation]]' redirect here-->
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
thumb|alt=Diagram illustrating the particles and antiparticles of electron, neutron and proton, as well as their "size" (not to scale). It is easier to identify them by looking at the total mass of both the antiparticle and particle. On the left, from top to bottom, is shown an electron (small red dot), a proton (big blue dot), and a neutron (big dot, black in the middle, gradually fading to white near the edges). On the right, from top to bottom, are shown the anti electron (small blue dot), anti proton (big red dot) and anti neutron (big dot, white in the middle, fading to black near the edges).|Illustration of electric charge of particles (left) and antiparticles (right). From top to bottom; [[electron/positron, proton/antiproton, neutron/antineutron.]]
In particle physics, every type of particle of "ordinary" matter (as opposed to antimatter) is associated with an antiparticle with the same mass but with opposite physical charges (such as electric charge). For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positron (also known as an antielectron). While the electron has a negative electric charge, the positron has a positive electric charge, and is produced naturally in certain types of radioactive decay. The opposite is also true: the antiparticle of the positron is the electron.