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# Matter

I read this book which says that when matter and antimatter meet they annihilate.According to the law of conservation of mass,mass can neither be created or destroyed.How can this be possible?

Note by Apoorv Singh
3 years, 5 months ago

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Let's get this cleared up. The law of conservation of mass is not exact, it is called an approximate law. Conservation of mass is violated whenever things are moving (only noticeable when things have speeds close to the speed of light), when you cause nuclear fission or fusion (a little mass seems to disappear) or when matter and antimatter annihilate (mass literally disappears completely). So mass is not conserved. However there is an exact law. It is called the conservation of mass-energy. It connects the conservation of energy and the conservation of mass. From relativity we know that energy is equivalent to mass (Mass has energy due to its sheer existence. And energy has mass in the sense it can create gravity!) Notice that in the examples above, whenever mass disappears, energy is created (a LOT of it!). So mass disappears, energy vanishes; but the sum of mass and energy remain the same. Hope this helps! · 3 years, 5 months ago

thx bro · 3 years, 5 months ago

You're welcome. · 3 years, 5 months ago

I think the matter and antimatter is converted into energy ( $$E=mc^{2}$$ ) · 3 years, 5 months ago