Mondo Knows Facts
Matter and antimatter annihilate into pure gamma rays
Collisions between particles and antiparticles convert one hundred percent of mass to energy
When a particle meets its corresponding antiparticle, such as an electron encountering a positron, both particles vanish instantaneously. Their entire combined rest mass converts into high-energy gamma-ray photons according to Einstein's mass-energy equivalence equation E=mc^2. This process represents the most efficient energy conversion known in physics.
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Tags: physics, antimatter, energy
Matter and antimatter annihilate into pure gamma rays: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Collisions between particles and antiparticles convert one hundred percent of mass to energy. The figure is taken from US Department of Energy, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.