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Does antimatter appear the same as matter to the naked eye?
I'm aware antiparticles are particles with identical mass but exhibit opposite quantum mechanical properties to their corresponding particles such as charge, spin, etc.
My question is, does antimatter create duplicate spectra? For example, does antihydrogen produce the same wavelengths via electromagnetic radiation as hydrogen? Or, how would antiwater appear to us?
Ah... so no discrepancies have been detected by experimentation. It would only seem logical that a positron orbital drop would produce the same photon as the same electron orbital drop.
6 Answers
- RaymondLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
It appears the same.
Exactly the same.
You see, by the rules of "anti", a photon is its own antiparticle.
(It seems, also, that neutrinos could be the same case, but we are not completely 100% sure yet).
Thus, when an anti-electron, in orbit around an anti-proton (in an anti-hydrogen anti-atom) drops from an excited orbit to a less excited orbit, it emits a photon of EXACTLY the same energy as if an electron, in orbit around a proton, had made the same orbital drop.
Same amount of energy = same photon (same wavelength, same frequency, same everything).
- Rick407Lv 78 years ago
Anti-matter has the same electromagnetic properties as normal matter does, making it impossible to determine by observation at a distance the matter state. Likewise, anti-matter behaves in a complementary manner chemically with itself. Only in contact between normal and anti-matter would there be a difference. The resultant annihilation is so catastrophic that the presence of both in the same place is obvious and routinely seen in cyclotron experiments.
Quantum theory postulates that the universe is equally matter and anti-matter. One supposes that previous annihilations into energy would create space between them. Anti-matter is routinely made in the lab by converting the energy of collisions into mass. But storage of any significant amounts hasn't been accomplished.
Source(s): Graduate degree in electrodynamics - oldprofLv 78 years ago
No, they appear different, but clearly not to the unclothed eye. One can't see them or their straight twins with the naked eye.
But to a point. When using detection devices, we know the anti matter from the matter simply because they do appear different in some property. The positron, for example, appears to swing to the negative plate rather than the positive one. That shows the particle has a plus rather than negative charge.
I doubt you can create anti-objects. Certainly live objects would not be viable as the electro-chemical process of life would be all wrong with anti mass. And I really can't envision anti quarks forming anti nuclei surrounded by positrons. And anti photons coupling with those positrons staggers the imagination.
Nope...don't see it.
- ?Lv 58 years ago
"My question is, does antimatter create duplicate spectra?"
Excellent question. Our current theories say yes. We don't have any experimental data yet to answer this question. CERN has a project in progress to experimentally measure this very thing.
- BruceLv 68 years ago
I should think to a human made of antimatter, the antiphotons would have the same wavelengths and asppearance as there is no reason to suppose the contrary.
- Anonymous8 years ago
"Raymond" has an excellent answer: