antiparticle
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).
Origin of antiparticle
1Words Nearby antiparticle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use antiparticle in a sentence
However, until now, nobody has reliably measured the mass difference between D1 and D2 that determines how quickly the D0 oscillates into its antiparticle.
CERN: How We’re Probing the Universe’s Origins Using Record Precision Measurements | Martha Hilton | June 24, 2021 | Singularity HubIt consists of 17 particles, many of which have antiparticle partners.
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics | Emily Conover | April 8, 2021 | Science NewsPhysicists would go on to discover many other antiparticles — all of which are identical to their matter partners except for an opposite electric charge — including the antiproton in 1955.
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics | Emily Conover | April 8, 2021 | Science NewsAn imbalance between two types of antiparticles that seethe within the proton is even wonkier than previously thought, a new measurement indicates.
Protons’ antimatter is even more lopsided than we thought | Emily Conover | February 24, 2021 | Science NewsPositronium is composed of electron and its antiparticle, a positron.
The exotic ‘atom’ positronium surprises scientists | Emily Conover | September 23, 2020 | Science News For Students
British Dictionary definitions for antiparticle
/ (ˈæntɪˌpɑːtɪkəl) /
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
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
Scientific definitions for 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for 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.
Notes for antiparticle
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.
Browse