Question

Star Trek fans have often heard the term “antimatter drive.” Describe how you could use a magnetic field to trap antimatter, such as produced by nuclear decay, and later combine it with matter to produce energy. Be specific about the type of antimatter, the need for vacuum storage, and the fraction of matter converted into energy.

Short answer

Annihilation takes place due to collision of particle and anti particle.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1: Antimatter drive

Antimatter composed of antiparticle having mass equal to the matter but of opposite electric charge and also differences in quantum numbers. So when particles collide with antiparticle then huge amount \({\rm{\;pf}}\) energetic photons is produced.

Here magnetic field is used to focus particle and antiparticle so that collision occurs and annihilation of particle and antiparticle takes place.

So my energy mass equation\({\rm{E = m}}{{\rm{c}}^{\rm{2}}}\)the amount of energy produced is proportional to the total mass collide. So in anti-matter drive a particle is annihilated with its anti particle to generate energy.

Hence, annihilation takes place due to collision of particle and anti particle.