Re: "anti-gravity"
From: vignesh (vignesh28_at_gmail.com)
Date: 02/16/05
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Date: 16 Feb 2005 00:44:32 -0800
SCIENTISTS HAVE KNOWN SINCE 1928 THAT TWO KINDS OF MATTER WERE CREATED
IN THE BIG BANG. ONE 'MATTER', WHICH IS THE KIND, WE SEE HERE ON
EARTH, MAKING UP ROCKS, TREES, ANIMALS. THE OTHER IS ITS
INVERSE-IDENTICAL TO MATTER IN ALL RESPECTS EXCEPT THAT THE CHARGES OF
ITS PARTICLES ARE REVERSED. THE IDENTICAL-MATTER IS KNOWN AS
ANTIMATTER! SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN STUDYING ANTIMATTER BY PRODUCING,
STORING, AND COLLIDING SMALL QUANTITIES AT FERMILAB AT CHICAGO AND CERN
(CONSEIL EUROPÉEN POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLÉAIRE) NEAR GENEVA,
SWITZERLAND FOR SEVERAL DECADES. ANTIMATTER IS MIRROR ENERGY OF MATTER
AND CAN BE A SOLID, LIQUID, GAS, OR PLASMA.
THE HISTORY OF ANTIMATTER BEGINS IN 1928 WITH A YOUNG BRITISH PHYSICIST
NAMED PAUL DIRAC ADRIEN MAURICE (1902-1984). IN 1928, PAUL DIRAC WROTE
DOWN AN EQUATION, WHICH COMBINED QUANTUM THEORY AND SPECIAL RELATIVITY,
TO DESCRIBE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE ELECTRON. DIRAC'S EQUATION WON HIM A
NOBEL PRIZE IN 1933, BUT ALSO POSED ANOTHER PROBLEM: JUST AS THE
EQUATION X2=4 CAN HAVE TWO POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (X=2 OR X=-2), SO DIRAC'S
EQUATION COULD HAVE TWO SOLUTIONS, ONE FOR AN ELECTRON WITH POSITIVE
ENERGY, AND ONE FOR AN ELECTRON WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY. BUT IN CLASSICAL
PHYSICS THE ENERGY OF A PARTICLE MUST ALWAYS BE A POSITIVE NUMBER!
DIRAC INTERPRETED THIS TO MEAN THAT FOR EVERY PARTICLE THAT EXISTS
THERE IS A CORRESPONDING ANTIPARTICLE, EXACTLY MATCHING THE PARTICLE
BUT WITH OPPOSITE CHARGE. FOR THE ELECTRON, FOR INSTANCE, THERE SHOULD
BE AN "ANTIELECTRON" IDENTICAL IN EVERY WAY BUT WITH A POSITIVE
ELECTRIC CHARGE. IN HIS NOBEL LECTURE, DIRAC SPECULATED ON THE
EXISTENCE OF A COMPLETELY NEW UNIVERSE MADE OUT OF ANTIMATTER!
ANTIMATTER IS YING TO MATTER'S YANG.IT BALANCES THE PHYSICAL
EQUATION.
IN 1932 CARL ANDERSON, A YOUNG PROFESSOR AT THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY, WAS STUDYING SHOWERS OF COSMIC PARTICLES IN A CLOUD CHAMBER
AND SAW A TRACK LEFT BY "SOMETHING POSITIVELY CHARGED, AND WITH THE
SAME MASS AS AN ELECTRON". AFTER NEARLY ONE YEAR OF EFFORT AND
OBSERVATION, HE DECIDED THE TRACKS WERE ACTUALLY ANTIELECTRONS, EACH
PRODUCED ALONGSIDE AN ELECTRON FROM THE IMPACT OF COSMIC RAYS IN THE
CLOUD CHAMBER. HE CALLED THE ANTIELECTRON A "POSITRON", FOR ITS
POSITIVE CHARGE. CONFIRMED SOON AFTER BY OCCHIALINI AND BLACKETT.
ANTIMATTER IS THE MOST POWERFUL ENERGY SOURCE KNOWN TO MAN. IT RELEASES
ENERGY WITH 100 PERCENT EFFICIENCY (NUCLEAR FISSION IS 1.5 PERCENT
EFFICIENT). ANTIMATTER CREATES NO POLLUTION OR RADIATION, AND A DROPLET
COULD POWER NEW YORK CITY FOR A FULL DAY. A SINGLE GRAM OF ANTIMATTER
CONTAINS THE ENERGY OF A 20-KILOTON NUCLEAR BOMB-THE SIZE OF THE BOMB
DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA.
UNTIL RECENTLY ANTIMATTER HAS BEEN CREATED ONLY IN VERY SMALL AMOUNTS
(A FEW ATOMS AT A TIME). BUT CERN HAS NOW BROKEN GROUND ON ITS NEW AD
(ANTIPROTON DECELERATOR) -AN ADVANCED ANTIMATTER PRODUCTION FACILITY
THAT PROMISES TO CREATE ANTIMATTER IN MUCH LARGER QUANTITIES.ITS
CHEMICAL SIGNATURE IS THAT OF PURE HYDROGEN. ENERGY OF 1 GRAM OF
ANTIMATTER IS 9 X 10 13 JOULES.
THE PERIODIC TABLE OF MATTER-ANTIMATTER ELEMENTS CONTAINS 109 MATTER
PLUS 109 ANTIMATTER ELEMENTS. SYMMETRY ALSO EXISTS AMONG THE ELEMENTS.
THE ANTIMATTER ELEMENTS ARE NAMED AFTER THEIR RESPECTIVE MATTER
ELEMENTS; AND THEIR NUCLEAR, PHYSICAL, AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES ARE
IDENTIFIED. THE SUPERSCRIPT A BEFORE THE ELEMENT OR SYMBOL INDICATES
THAT ELEMENT IS ANTIMATTER. FOR EXAMPLE, HYDROGEN & OXYGEN ARE
AHYDROGEN & AOXYGEN RESPECTIVELY.
RIGHT NOW, ANTIMATTER IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE SUBSTANCE ON EARTH, ABOUT
$62.5 TRILLION A GRAM ($1.75 QUADRILLION AN OUNCE). THE PRODUCTION IS,
AT BEST, 50 PERCENT EFFICIENT BECAUSE HALF OF WHAT'S CREATED ARE
REGULAR PROTONS, AND THE EQUIPMENT NOW USED WAS NOT DESIGNED TO FUEL
ROCKETS.
WHEN AN ORDINARY PARTICLE COLLIDES WITH ITS ANTIPARTICLE, THE TWO
PARTICLES DESTROY EACH OTHER, AND ENERGY OR OTHER PARTICLES ARE
PRODUCED. THIS COLLISION IS CALLED ANNIHILATION. MANY SCIENTISTS
THEORIZE THAT SUCH COLLISIONS MAY EXPLAIN THE APPARENT ABSENCE OF
NATURALLY OCCURRING ANTIMATTER IN THE UNIVERSE. ACCORDING TO BIG BANG
THEORY, THE MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE TODAY IS THE TINY REMNANT THAT
SURVIVED AFTER ALL THE ANTIMATTER ANNIHILATED WITH MOST OF THE MATTER.
ANTIHYDROGEN IS THE SIMPLEST ANTIMATTER ATOM; IT CONSISTS OF A POSITRON
ORBITING AROUND AN ANTIPROTON. IT IS THE ANTIMATTER COUNTERPART OF THE
HYDROGEN, THE SIMPLEST MATTER ATOM, IN WHICH AN ELECTRON ORBITS AROUND
A PROTON.
AN ELECTRON IS AN ORDINARY PARTICLE THAT HAS A NEGATIVE ELECTRIC
CHARGE. ITS ANTIPARTICLE, A POSITRON, EXACTLY RESEMBLES IT EXCEPT THAT
A POSITRON CARRIES A POSITIVE ELECTRIC CHARGE. ANTIPARTICLES ALSO
COMBINE JUST AS ORDINARY PARTICLES DO. FOR EXAMPLE, AN ANTINEUTRON MAY
COMBINE WITH AN ANTIPROTON AND SO FORM AN ANTIDEUTERON, THE NUCLEUS OF
AN ANTIDEUTERIUM ATOM.
THEY CAN BE USED IN FUTURE SUBSTITUTING COAL, PETROLEUM, AND NUCLEAR
ENERGY TOO. THUS ANTIMATTER IS INDEED A GREATEST DISCOVERY OF 19TH
CENTURY.IT MIGHT ALSO BE THE FUEL THAT POWERS SPACESHIPS TO THE PLANETS
AND PERHAPS THE STARS.
(MARS IN 6 WEEKS. AND BACK IN A TOTAL OF FOUR MONTHS. THAT'S THE
PREDICTION OF A DESIGN TEAM WORKING ON ANTIMATTER ROCKET CONCEPTS AT
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY. BUT FIRST, YOU HAVE TO GET THE STUFF -
AND STORE IT).
- Next message: George Hammond: "Re: re:GOD=G_uv FOR IQ's OVER 150"
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- In reply to: Tesseract: ""anti-gravity""
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