Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watdaisy.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watnot!watdaisy!gjerawlins From: gjerawlins@watdaisy.UUCP (Gregory J.E. Rawlins) Newsgroups: net.books,net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: Procyon's Promise (really about matter/anti-matter) Message-ID: <7373@watdaisy.UUCP> Date: Sun, 18-Aug-85 00:39:03 EDT Article-I.D.: watdaisy.7373 Posted: Sun Aug 18 00:39:03 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 06:07:02 EDT References: <320@baylor.UUCP> <1491@shark.UUCP> <153@iitcs.UUCP> <205@drivax.UUCP> Reply-To: gjerawlins@watdaisy.UUCP (Gregory J.E. Rawlins) Distribution: net Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 35 Xref: watmath net.books:2170 net.sf-lovers:9591 Summary: In article <205@drivax.UUCP> alan@drivax.UUCP (Alan Fargusson) writes: > >I have always been a little confused about matter/anti-matter stuff. Does >anti-matter have negative mass? If it does then wouldn't a black hole made >of anti-matter have negative mass? > >I'm a programmer jim, not a physicist. :-) >-- > >Alan Fargusson. > >{ ihnp4, amdahl, mot }!drivax!alan No, anti-matter is just "matter" made up of anti-particles. Anti-particles are particles with the same mass as their (more normal) counterparts but with opposite charge or magnetic moment. The only reason a distinction is made is because "particles" are much more prevalent than "anti-particles". For example, the anti-particle of the electron is the positron (a particle with the same mass as an electron but with positive charge) a particle which caused much consternation when first discovered; as it turns out all "particles" have corresponding "anti-particles", the reason why they weren't discovered earlier is that in our neck of the woods particles are the rule and whenever an anti-particle is created it immediately combines with its corresponding particle and vanishes in a puff of energy. Particles with negative mass (whatever that means) are as of now pure speculation. Hope this helps. ("Jim, I'm a programmer not an encyclopaedia!") (-: greg :-) -- Gregory J.E. Rawlins, Department of Computer Science, U. Waterloo gjerawlins%watdaisy@waterloo.csnet gjerawlins%watdaisy%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa {allegra|clyde|linus|utzoo|inhp4|decvax}!watmath!watdaisy!gjerawlins