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Anti-matter exist. Now accepting this statement, how do you visualize the concept of anti-matter and incorporate it into our understanding of the universe. Perhaps the use of the Nu Periodic Table can help. Consider the following.
In the Nu Periodic Table, instead of starting with hydrogen at the beginning and following through to the end with elements based on hydrogen's make up, we start with the element neutron (Nu) which has no electrons in an orbit. Neutron is as the name suggest, neutral that is there is neither a positive charge on the nucleus or a negative charge on an electron. The neutron if considered as the building block for all the rest of the elements can also be considered the central point for forming anti-matter as well.
In our world, as a proton and electron is added to the neutron, the element deuterium (D) is created. Deuterium has a single proton with a positive charge and a single electron with a negative charge; this in addition to the neutron also residing in the nucleus. Adding a second neutron yields tritium (T). Now since neutrons can be added, they also can be subtracted, as in the case of tritium, when the second neutron yields up an electron, the residue in the neucleus becomes a second proton and the result; helium (He) with two protons, a single neutron and two electrons. (Granted this is not the most common form of helium which we encounter since it has an atomic mass of about three, whereas, helium is found to have an atomic mass of 4.00260, which means it must have picked up more neutrons along the way.)
But wait, what about hydrogen (H) the most abundant element in our universe making up about 90 percent of the atoms and about 75 percent of the mass. One mustn't leave out hydrogen. Let's suppose that in the case of hydrogen, it evolved from the neutron by the neutron giving up an electron with a negative charge and thus the nucleus becoming positively charged as we saw with tritium. (Now tritium disintegrates by this transition fairly rapidly, say about half of the tritium you have on hand will have decomposed to helium in about twelve years. Don't know how long it would take for deuterium to shed an electron or for neutrium (Nu) to do the same but with the age of the universe and all that it contains, there's certainly been enough time for the events to occur.)
Now we are prepared to enter the murky waters of particle physics. The following is perhaps the best quote I can find; " Elementary particle physics is not yet clearly understood..." This from the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Also from the same source, "many physicist now hold that all the matter and energy in the universe is controlled by four fundamental natural forces; the electromagnetic force, gravity, a weak nuclear force, and a strong nuclear force. Each of these forces are passed (carried) back and forth among the basic particles of matter by unique force-carrying particles. The electromagnetic force is carried by the photon (A particle that has no mass when not in motion, but has a positive spin direction and charge. A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic radiation (energy) with which we are perhaps familiar as it is a measure of the intensity (quantity) of light. And, there is an anti-matter equivalent to the photon.) Gravity is assumed to be passed back and forth by what else, a gravitron. Weak electromagnetic force by an intermediate vector (carrier), a boson and strong electromagnetic force (emf) by a gluon ." Clear?
Perhaps a brief tour of some of sub-atomic particles with which the
chemist is more concerned about, and their
definitions is in order:
electron - particle with a negative charge and a mass of about 9.1094
times 10 to the minus 28 grams.
positron - particle with a positive charge and a mass of about 9.1094
times 10 to the minus 28 grams.
proton - particle with a positive charge and a mass of about 1.6726 times
10 to the minus 24 grams.
neutron - particle with no charge and a mass of about 1.6749 times 10 to
the minus 24 grams. (The mass is the sum of the mass of an electron and a
proton)
leptons - four known particles of which the electron is one. Also know as
leptons are the muon (aka upsilon meson) and two kinds of neutrinos. The
muon has the same charge as the electron (negative) but is 200 times
heavier. The neutrinos are small particles that are stable and which if
not in motion would have a mass of zero, and they have no charge (i.e.,
just pure energy).
anti-leptons - There are four anti-leptons, corresponding to the leptons
but they have exactly the opposite properties (wonder how you distinguish
between an anti-neutrino and a neutrino). At any rate the anti-lepton for
the electron is called a positron and has a part to play in
anti-matter.
hadrons - composed of elementary particles called quarks which don't exist
as an isolated particle. Neutrons and protons which make up atomic nuclei
are hadrons.
Now in addition to the above there are probably another 100 or so
particles that have either been identified or speculated on. So the
statement "murky" seems quite appropriate. But let's not lose our way
in seeking a descriptive explanation of anti-matter by getting crossed up
in the many definitions and particles that may or may not exist.
Anti-matter
For speculative purposes, let's assume that instead of a neutron splitting to yield a proton (with a positive charge) and an electron (with a negative charge), that instead the electron has a positive charge and the negative charge remains within the nucleus. Or, you may assume that the particle emitted is a positron (same mass as an electron but with a positive charge. We have the beginning of anti-matter, since this newly formed hydrogen would be exactly the opposite of our usually encountered counterpart. Now since we have seen that the physicist have already given us a name for this particle as an anti-lepton we can continue to build an universe of anti-matter. It will perhaps be necessary to develop an new terminology to identify these elements but let's leave that to the physicist.
Our anti-matter universe would be identical to ours (elemental mass, charges and the like) but who knows how it would evolve.
One may argue with the premises with which this explanation has been given. But I challenge those who seek to disagree to provide a simpler and more easily understood explanation.
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