antiparticle
[an-tee-pahr-ti-kuh l, an-tahy-]
- a particle all of whose properties, as mass, spin, or charge, have the same magnitude as but, where appropriate, the opposite sign of a specific elementary particle; neutral pions, photons, and gravitons are considered to be their own antiparticles: The positron is the antiparticle of the electron.Compare antimatter, annihilation(def 3).
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Origin of antiparticle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
antiparticle
- any of a group of elementary particles that have the same mass and spin as their corresponding particle but have opposite values for all other nonzero quantum numbers. When a particle collides with its antiparticle, mutual annihilation occurs
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
antiparticle
[ăn′tē-pär′tĭ-kəl, ăn′tī-]
- A subatomic particle, such as an antiproton, having the same mass as its corresponding particle, but opposite values of other properties such as charge, parity, spin, and direction of magnetic moment. For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positron, which has a charge that is equal in magnitude to that of the electron but opposite in sign. Some particles, such as photons, are nondistinct from their antiparticles. When a particle and its antiparticle collide, they may annihilate one other and produce other particles.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
antiparticle
In physics, a rare form of subatomic matter that is a mirror image of normal matter. The antiparticle corresponding to an elementary particle has the same mass as the particle but is opposite in all other properties. The antiparticle corresponding to an electron is a positron, which has the same mass as an electron but a positive charge. Antiprotons have the same mass as protons but a negative charge. When matter and antimatter come together, the two particles annihilate each other, converting their mass into energy or into other types of particles.
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Note
As far as scientists can tell, there is almost no naturally occurring antimatter in the universe, although it is possible to make antimatter in particle accelerators.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.