What is antimatter, is it the same as dark matter?

Question

It would seem as if antimatter is a contradiction, for if there is not matter there is nothing.
For example the anti to this computer would be me looking at no computer.

Answer 1

Dark matter is "something" that has mass, but does not react through the electromagnetic force.

Light (and magnetism) is an electromagnetic force, hence the name "dark" matter for the matter that does not interact through that force.



Antimatter is simply a name given to matter that is formed from anti-particles, like positrons (anti-electrons) and anti-protons - and so on.

Anti-matter interacts with other antimatter and with normal matter through the electromagnetic force.

Therefore, it CANNOT be the same as dark matter.



Antimatter is obviously something that is not natural in our universe, but it is still something that exists and that can be produced in labs.



When antimatter comes in contact with the corresponding matter, they annihilate each other and produce photons of electromagnetic energy (which is called light, if it is at the right wavelength).



Definitely not dark matter.



In particle physics, anti-something is NOT the same as "absence of" something.

Answer 2

Antimatter has a specific meaning. For each particle (quark, proton, neutron, electron) there is another corresponding particle with many of the same properties, but opposite charge. (The difference between neutrons and anti-neutrons is more subtle. Don't worry about it).



That's antimatter. It can go together just like regular matter. There are anti-hydrogen atoms that are just like regular hydrogen, except the middle is negative and the "electron" is a positively charged positron. The antimatter version of you looking at your computer would be you looking at your computer, but with all the charges inside reversed. And the things flowing in the wires would be positrons instead of electrons.



Antimatter is real. It is released in some nuclear reactions. There is a medical procedure called Positron Emission Tomography (PET scans). The "positron" in that name is antimatter.



The thing about antimatter is that it doesn't hang around in our universe very long, because when an antiparticle meets its corresponding matter particle, they both annihilate, turning into pure energy in the form of gamma rays.



And that's why dark matter can't be antimatter. We would detect the presence of antimatter, because lots of it would be annihilating with matter and releasing gamma rays. Dark matter is mass that seems to be out there, that seems to have gravitational effects, but that is not in a form which is emitting light, radio waves, or other energy we can detect. It isn't wrapped up in stars for instance.

Answer 3

anti matter is quite different from dark matter. antimatter is a molecule (think proton) that has the opposite charge but the same mass as regular matter. These two molecules would be called antiparticles and particles. As for dark matter, we are much more certain what dark matter is not than we are what it is. First, it is dark, meaning that it is not in the form of stars and planets that we see. Observations show that there is far too little visible matter in the Universe to make up the 25% required by the observations. Second, it is not in the form of dark clouds of normal matter, matter made up of particles called baryons. We know this because we would be able to detect baryonic clouds by their absorption of radiation passing through them. Third, dark matter is not antimatter, because we do not see the unique gamma rays that are produced when antimatter annihilates with matter.

Answer 4

Antimatter is the same as "normal" matter but the electric charges are reversed for those particles with a charge. Neutrons for instance have no charge, so they are the same in matter and antimatter.



Dark matter is still somewhat conjecture, but if it exists it only very weakly interacts with normal matter and radiant energy.

Answer 5

In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, a positron (the antiparticle of the electron or e+

) and an antiproton (p) can form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter and antimatter can lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs.

There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, whether there exist other places that are almost entirely antimatter instead, and what might be possible if antimatter could be harnessed. At this time, the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. The process by which this asymmetry between particles and antiparticles developed is called baryogenesis.



In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is matter that is inferred to exist from gravitational effects on visible matter and gravitational lensing of background radiation, but that neither emits nor scatters light or other electromagnetic radiation (and so cannot be directly detected via optical or radio astronomy).[1] Its existence was hypothesized to account for discrepancies between calculations of the mass of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the entire universe made through dynamical and general relativistic means, and calculations based on the mass of the visible "luminous" matter these objects contain: stars and the gas and dust of the interstellar and intergalactic medium.



According to observations of structures larger than solar systems, as well as Big Bang cosmology interpreted under the Friedmann equations and the FLRW metric, dark matter accounts for 23% of the mass-energy density of the observable universe. In comparison, ordinary matter accounts for only 4.6% of the mass-energy density of the observable universe, with the remainder being attributable to dark energy.[2][3] From these figures, dark matter constitutes 83%, (23/(23+4.6)), of the matter in the universe, whereas ordinary matter makes up only 17%.



Dark matter was postulated by Fritz Zwicky in 1934 to account for evidence of "missing mass" in the orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters. Subsequently, other observations have indicated the presence of dark matter in the universe; these observations include the rotational speeds of galaxies, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet Cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies.



Dark matter plays a central role in state-of-the-art modeling of structure formation and galaxy evolution, and has measurable effects on the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than that which interacts with electromagnetic radiation. The largest part of dark matter, which does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, is not only "dark" but also, by definition, utterly transparent.[4]



As important as dark matter is believed to be in the cosmos, direct evidence of its existence and a concrete understanding of its nature have remained elusive. Though the theory of dark matter remains the most widely accepted theory to explain the anomalies in observed galactic rotation, some alternative theoretical approaches have been developed which broadly fall into the categories of modified gravitational laws, and quantum gravitational laws.[5]



So, no.

Answer 6

Basically what composes mass is invisible. That means its dark and the bulk of the Universe is black. We really do not understand what kind of substance antimatter is.

Perhaps one day science will.

Answer 7

Think about electricity there is positive and negative.



Not exactly the same, but a very rough comparison.

Answer 8

No. Antimatter is not dark matter. Your definition of antimatter is incorrect. Electrons with a positive charge, called positrons, are made in accelerators every day. A positron IS anti-matter.



http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/positron



"...an·ti·mat·ter   /ˈæntiˌmætər, ˈæntaɪ-/ Show Spelled[an-tee-mat-er, an-tahy-] Show IPA

noun Physics .

matter composed only of antiparticles, especially antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons.

Antimatter Definition

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Origin:

1950–55; anti- + matter ...



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Collins World English Dictionary

antimatter (ˈæntɪˌmætə) ....



— n

a form of matter composed of antiparticles, such as antihydrogen, consisting of antiprotons and positrons





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Etymonline Word Origin & History



antimatter



also anti-matter, 1953, from anti- + matter.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

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"... dark matter 

noun

a hypothetical form of matter invisible to electromagnetic radiation, postulated to account for gravitational forces observed in the universe.

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Origin:

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Collins World English Dictionary

dark matter



— n

astronomy matter known to make up perhaps 90% of the mass of the universe, but not detectable by its absorption or emission of electromagnetic radiation





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American Heritage Science Dictionary

dark matter

Matter that emits little or no detectable radiation. Gravitational forces observed on many astronomical objects suggest the significant presence of such matter in the universe, accounting for approximately 23 percent of the total mass and energy of the universe. Its exact nature is not well understood, but it may be largely composed of varieties of subatomic particles that have not yet been discovered, as well as the mass of black holes and of stars too dim to observe. Also called missing mass .





Our Living Language : What is the universe made of? We know that galaxies consist of planets, stars, and huge gas and dust clouds—all of these objects are observable by the radiation they give off, such as radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray, or gamma-ray radiation, and all can be observed using various kinds of telescopes. But there are reasons to suspect the existence of far more matter than this, matter that is not directly observable. Evidence for such dark matter comes from observations of certain gravitational effects. For example, astronomers have found that galaxies rotate much faster than they would be expected to rotate based solely on their observable mass—in fact, they should be flying apart. One explanation for this apparent anomaly is to assume that the galaxies have much more mass than we can see, and this invisible mass holds them together gravitationally. Various theories of the composition of this invisible dark matter have been proposed, from exotic yet-to-be discovered particles to planet-sized objects made of ordinary matter that are too small or far away to be detected by present-day instruments. But none of these theories are entirely satisfactory, and the fundamental question of what makes up most of the universe remains unanswered.



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