Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

antiparticle
a particle having the same mass as a given fundamental particle, but whose other properties, while having the same magnitude, may be of opposite sign. Each particle has a partner called an antiparticle. For example, electrical charge in the case of the electron and positron, magnetic moment in the case of the neutron and antineutron. On collision a particle and its antiparticle may mutually annihilate with the emission of radiation. Some properties of the antiparticle will be identical in magnitude but opposite in sign to the particle it is paired with.