• Question: How can anti-matter exist, if the energy created when matter an anti-matter collide, it creates enough force to destroy the universe?

    Asked by awesomeguy to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 24 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      The same way that acids and alkalis can both exist, even though they would neutralise each other. They just stay apart, in clearly labelled bottles.

      PS: … if a bit of matter and anti matter collide, it creates a fair old bang, but not enough to destroy the universe!

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      There is a popular theory that more matter than anti-matter was formed when the Universe was created. When all the matter and anti-matter floating about had “annhiliated” each other (basically, cancelling each other out), there was still quite a bit of matter left over. Lucky for us!

    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      It doesn’t create enough force to destrory the universe although it would be quite loud!

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      This is a wonderful question because we simply don’t know the answer! The Big Bang Theory suggests that matter and anti-matter should have been created in equal quantities, but if they had been then the universe would have been destroyed utterly. Instead, there must have been slightly more matter than antimatter. How? We don’t know! But scientists love the answer “I don’t know” because it means that they have the chance to do the experiments and be the first to say “I do know”. Scientists all over the world are working on this problem, in fact the world’s biggest scientific experiment, the Large Hadron Collider, is designed to help answer this question. But who knows- it may not be answered by the time you grow up, and you could even be the first to find out!

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