Oughta start with 'Transparent Aluminum'...
Antimatter.
- Thread starter pho_phizzat
- Start date
Just when you thought nothing could be created from something, this comes along.
It's not politically correct to be anti-anything! Can't we all just get along? Embrace diversity.
these threads remind me how dumb I am
This PET thing has always had me scratching my head. How the hell (or heck, if you prefer) do they create the anti-electrons and use them without creating a massive explosion? You would think the COMPLETE conversion of matter to energy as should happen in a matter vs. antimatter confrontation would create havoc...or a big pop. Jim, can you shed some light on this? Is it because the relative mass is so small?
The short answer is that a little antimatter goes a long way. When you are talking about an electron and a positron annihilating, you get a pair of high-energy gamma rays traveling in equal and opposite directions. But the total energy released is still only mc^2, and there isn't a lot of mass in an electron and a positron. And that is all you are dealing with in a PET scan, the occasional electron meeting the occasional positron. So you only get a little high-energy radiation.
Now, if you had two gallons of antiwater and water, _then_ you would have a pretty big bang.
Jim Snover
Now, if you had two gallons of antiwater and water, _then_ you would have a pretty big bang.
Jim Snover
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