BRAINCAKEParticles and Antiparticles
Every particle has a corresponding antiparticle. Compared with its particle, an antiparticle has:
• the same mass (the same rest energy)
• the opposite charge
• opposite values of the other quantum numbers, such as baryon number and lepton number
So if you know the properties of a particle, you can deduce those of its antiparticle, and the other way round.
Examples:
• electron e- (charge –1e) and positron e+ (charge +1e), both 0.511 MeV/c2
• proton p (charge +1e, baryon number +1) and antiproton p (charge –1e, baryon number –1), both 938 MeV/c2
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Key terms in this lesson
- baryon number
- A quantum number assigned +1 to baryons, -1 to antibaryons and 0 to other particles, conserved in every interaction.
- lepton number
- A quantum number assigned +1 to leptons, -1 to antileptons and 0 to other particles, conserved in every interaction.
More in Particle Physics
- Particle Detectors
- Tracks in a Magnetic Field
- Relativistic Energies and GeV
- Mass in MeV/c2
- Pair Production
- Annihilation
- The Standard Model
- Quarks
All 19 lessons in Particle Physics · All Edexcel A-level Physics topics