I.

INTRODUCTION
Black and white. Good and bad. Love and hate. Yin and yang. Everything around us seems to have a

complementary. Things to balance the universe. Things in order to achieve homeostasis. And humans love to wander
and wonder. As they wander the great feats of the universe, they wonder what more can the universe has.
Particles of matter were forged out of pure energy as the Big bang took place. Dating back to 1928, it was
when sparks of the notion that the universe was balanced, with matter and antimatter created in equal abundance
(however, antimatter disappeared after the big bang) ignited.
Matter is made up of atom. Atom, on the other hand has three particles namely electrons, protons and
neutrons. Each particle has a specific mass and electric charge. For example, electron has a negative charge and
mass of 2.52x10-28.
Paul Diracs new theory of relativistic quantum mechanics allowed for a particle with negative energy
solution, as a counterpart to a positive-energy electron. Dirac predicted the existence of a new particle with the same
mass as the electron but with a charge that was positive rather than negative after ruling out the possibility that it was
proton.
In a cloud chamber passed through by cosmic rays, Carl Anderson observed the same particle. Its track
bent in the wrong direction in a magnetic field. He then named it as positron.
Antimatter was soon observed and created in CERN Geneva, Switzerland. And, it became one of the center
of the novel and movie entitled Angels and Demons which was imposed as a weapon of destructive power.
II. Short Summary
The story was about the conflict of religion and science. Following the successful acquirement of antimatter
in a laboratory in CERN, Silvano Bentivoglio died having one of his eyes removed from its socket and the antimatter
being stolen by the assassin. Vittoria Vetra, his laboratory partner went to Vatican City to report the crime. She found
herself beside a professor named Robert Langdon who was summoned because of the alleged participation of the
Illuminati to the said crime.
They found themselves in an adventure involving the four fundamental elements; earth, air, fire and water to
save the four preferiti (the favorites to be the next pope) and eventually find the church of illumination (Illuminatis
hideout). In the movie, Langdon only succeeded in saving Cardinal Baggia who became the next pope.
It was revealed that the camerlango or the assistant of the pope was the one who murdered the pope. He
was also responsible to the abduction of the preferitis and the stealing of antimatter. He deceived everyone in

imposing a threat in order for the followers faith to strengthen and dismiss any scientific view specifically about the
creation of the universe.
III. Reaction/Discussions
In my perspective, I found the movie as an educational material. It showed how scientists generated one
gram of antimatter. They explained what it is and how it works and what are its effects in the society. Especially since,
they called it the God particle that give rise to the conflict of science and religion.
Although the subject of having an antimatter is fictional, I strongly believe that it is still existing in the
universe. This is because of the asymmetry of the quantity of matter and antimatter in the universe. If matter and
antimatter were created in equal abundance, and they cancel out when they annihilate leaving nothing but energy,
then, there must still be an amount of antimatter which is the reason why we, humans are still alive.
After reading articles regarding antimatter, one gram of antimatter could produce an explosion the size of a
nuclear bomb. However, it is impossible to obtain one gram of antimatter in just seconds which the movie showed. It
would probably take one billion years.
On the other hand, CERN only produced less than 10 nanograms which contains enough energy to power a
60 W light bulb for 4 hours. They also found a way to prevent the annihilation or contact to matter through the
Penning trap which held the antimatter.
At first, I thought antimatters are only produced artificially just for the purpose of finding out the creation of
the universe according to the movie. But I remembered that positrons (antiparticle of electrons) are byproducts of
radioactivity of beta plus (+) decay.
Also, small amounts of antimatter constantly rain down on the Earth in the form of cosmic rays. Evidence
has been seen of antimatter production above thunderstorms, too. Bananas also produce antimatter. This is because
bananas contain small amount of potassium-40 (K-40). When K-40 decays, it releases positrons. Our bodies as well,
contain K-40, and so, we emit antiparticles.
I hope the movie stated what atom was used in obtaining the antimatter. I can only guess that it was
antihydrogen since the only atom that I know that has a counterpart is hydrogen. As far as I remember, hydrogen is
hard enough for them to control due to its energy, what more if scientists create an antimatter of all the elements in
the periodic table.
Also, the book only mentioned the negative effects of the antiparticle. I was anticipating that they will state at
least one affirmative effect of antiparticle. And since I want to satisfy my curiosity, I searched and found that it is used

in producing high resolution image of the body (Positron Emission Tomography) and has the potential to target
tumors and be a cancer therapy.

IV. CONCLUSION
All men by nature desires knowledge, said by Aristotle. Humans always wonder about the nature. We are
always hungry of erudition. And we find ways to satisfy our craving for knowledge. This resulted to the advancement
of science and technology.
We research because we have a purpose. We intend for a better understanding and living. However, let us
all open our eyes. There will always be a negative implication of that. People should not be ignorant regarding this
but we must keep an open mind.
Antimatter might have given rise to some conflicts in some departments or institutions, particularly in the
religious sector but we must not let it divide us. Let us keep our faith in God and still continue educating ourselves
through sciences.
Its quite a serendipity to know that everything around us has a yang to its yin. So dont frown if you are
broken today. There is someone who will be your counterpart, your complement, your yang, your positron. Someone
who will be in contact with you and both of you will just ignite and become nothing but energy of people filled with
love.
There is always a force that keeps the universe balance. That keeps us on track to the road we are taking.
That turns us 360 degrees when we made a wrong turn in life. And that force will always be there, no matter what
happens.

Reaction paper on the movie Angels and Demons

Submitted by:
Katrina Jade A. Pajo
Grade 11- Jade

Submitted to:
Mr. Ricky F. Bosque
General Chemistry I teacher