Making anti-atoms
Atoms of ordinary, positive, matter are made up of smaller particles:
mainly protons, neutrons and electrons.
We know that each of these particles has an antiparticle.
So could we make an anti-atom out of antiparticles?
Would an atom of anti-hydrogen behave like an atom of hydrogen?
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the simplest atom: it has just one proton and one electron, so it’s a good place to start.
Anti-hydrogen
In 1995 scientists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research succeeded in combining an anti-proton with an anti-electron (also called a positron).
They had made anti-hydrogen, the World’s first artificial anti-atom.
Anti-life, on anti-planets?
What might a world made of anti-atoms be like?
Could there be living creatures made of anti-atoms?
The first step towards answering these questions is to find out if anti-hydrogen behaves at all like hydrogen. Scientists around the World are experimenting to find out.
Once we know more about how anti-atoms behave, that might help us search for regions of antimatter elsewhere in the Universe.
Searching for our anti-selves >>
