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Glite Dictionary
antiproton

antiproton

3 9.6
A tiny particle like a proton but with a negative electric charge
  • noun
  • /ˌæntɪˈproʊtɒn/
  • Specialized
: antiprotón
  • Scientists recently created a beam of antiprotons for experiments in particle physics.
  • antiprotons and positrons
  • proton-antiproton
  • antiproton collider

The trouble is, it's too hot for protons and antiprotons to exist.

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Examples

  • ATHENA's p trap captures about 10,000 of the slower moving antiprotons among the roughly 20 million in each bunch sent from the AD.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The 6-km circumference Tevatron ring brings countercirculating beams of 1-TeV protons and antiprotons into collision.

    Academic text (2003)

  • That's where the big antiproton storage ring is.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Indeed, in the same paper, Dirac predicted the existence of the antiproton, which would not be seen for another 24 years.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Then the antiproton is collected and readied for whatever experiment awaits it.

    Academic text (2005)

  • We have two antiprotons with two anti neutrons to create anti helium.

  • In fact, scientists can coax an antielectron and an antiproton to bond and create an atom of anti-hydrogen.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The experimenters also confirmed that the H peak was absent when only antiprotons (no positrons) were loaded into the trap.

    Academic text (2002)

  • In an experiment, physicists measured the properties of antiprotons and their interactions with matter.

  • The collider produced high-energy collisions between protons and antiprotons, allowing researchers to study fundamental particles.

Surface Forms

antiproton singular
antiprotons plural

Morphology

antiproton = proton (semi-transparent) = anti + proton

The word is built compositionally from 'anti-' plus 'proton', but the scientific meaning is specialized and may not be fully inferable for all learners.

Etymology

The word antiproton is made of anti- meaning 'opposite', seen in words like antibiotic, and proton, a particle whose name comes from a root meaning 'first'. So an antiproton is the 'opposite' of a proton: it has the same mass but a negative electric charge, like a mirror image of the proton.