Does anyone see any possible benefits to Anti-hydrogen?

[Firedragon52]

I know its interesting to study, but I don't see how antimatter elements could possibly benefit humanity.

 

Unless, that is, you wanted to create photons (light?).

 

Am I off base here? Does anyone see any possible benefits of Anti-matter elements like Anti-hydrogen?

[Sayonara]

Aside from research purposes?

 

Combine matter with antimatter and a huge amount of energy is released. If there were some kind of "natural" reservoir of anti-hydrogen, and we could harvest the energy released by its collisions with normal matter, it would be a tremendous energy source.

[Firedragon52]

Aside from research purposes?

 

Combine matter with antimatter and a huge amount of energy is released. If there were some kind of "natural" reservoir of anti-hydrogen' date=' and we could harvest the energy released by its collisions with normal matter, it would be a tremendous energy source.[/quote']By energy, do you mean light? I thought that only photons were created with the collision of of matter and antimatter. Could this energy actually do work (maybe for catalyst or combustion)?

[YT2095]

WHERE, might one obtain "anti-Hydrogen"?

 

as far as I`m aware, such things are not plentifull (anti-anything even!)

 

I fear it may take more energy to produce than you`de get back

[Sayonara]

I fear it may take more energy to produce than you`de get back

I'm fairly certain it would, which is why I specified some "natural reservoir".

[Firedragon52]

WHERE, might one obtain "anti-Hydrogen"?

These links explains how some scientist created it:

http://www.danbrown.com/secrets/bizarre_facts/antimatter.html

 

and

 

http://science.howstuffworks.com/antimatter1.htm

 

If you really were interested in its creation.

[YT2095]

after a read of both links (I didn`t need to read the second one as I`de already seen it before) it would still require more energy to produce that what you`de get back, and as for a "natural reservoir" it would certainly have to be something "off world".

and then we`de have to tackle the problems of containment!

[pulkit]

I believe it was Enrico Fermi who once said that a day would come when half the world would be involved in building/maintaining a particle accelerator that went around the equator and the other half would be engaged in operating it.

 

Maybe that day we can make such anti elements for fun !!

[Gilded]

Heh, maybe there's no use for antimatter in the energy production, but as a weapon! Perhaps a small antimatter-torpedo confined within some sort of magnetic fields... Or maybe I have just played too much Master of Orion.

 

It makes you wonder what it would be like if all the anti-matter that ever naturally existed wasn't annihilated in the Big Bang. Maybe it wouldn't be so nice, with matter and anti-matter particles colliding into each other all the time.

[Firedragon52]

It makes you wonder what it would be like if all the anti-matter that ever naturally existed wasn't annihilated in the Big Bang. Maybe it wouldn't be so nice, with matter and anti-matter particles colliding into each other all the time.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe that anti-matter was annihilated or destroyed. I think some theories even exist that state that for every form of matter, there is another form of antimatter somewhere.

 

Am I way off base here?

[Gilded]

Yeah well, the Big Bang itself is preddy clouded; There should have been equal quantities of both anti-matter and matter, however, somehow there was more matter and that matter became the universe. Just a theory, though. And I should have said "only large reservoir that naturally existed". For example, a beta+ decay produces a positron (which is the antiparticle of electron).

 

"some theories even exist that state that for every form of matter, there is another form of antimatter somewhere". Meaning that every particle type has an antiparticle (for example, electrons and positrons), but there isn't an equal amount of matter and anti-matter in the universe.

[jsatan]

From what I've read about anti matter, it holes a huge amount of energy, its 100% efficient, kind. both come together and boom no more atoms, just energy, most likely in the electromagnetic field, they are design a space probe that uses it using a magnetic trap to contain this anti matter as it has a great weight to power ration, lol.

Exciting times we live in.

[Gilded]

"its 100% efficient, kind. both come together and boom no more atoms, just energy"

 

Yep, annihilation happens, indeed. If I'm correct, all that energy is in photon form.

 

"they are design a space probe that uses it using a magnetic trap to contain this anti matter as it has a great weight to power ration"

 

Well it's about time. Indeed, it has an excellent weight to power ratio. If you would have a kilogram of... well, anything, and you could convert it to pure energy, you could drive a car for about 100 000 years with that energy. The anti-matter <-> matter reaction is one thing where you definately need the famous E=mc².