Question 30.CA.5: Particle creation One reason a photon does not create an odd...
Particle creation
One reason a photon does not create an odd number of electrons plus positrons is that such a process would
A. not conserve charge.
B. not conserve energy.
C. require photon energies that are not attainable.
D. result in the creation of mass.
One of the observed rules of nature is that during any type of particle interaction or change, the net charge (the number of positive charges minus the number of negative charges) does not change, a rule called conservation of charge. If a photon, a zero-charge particle, is converted into one positron and one electron, the net charge still adds to zero. An odd number of particles would include either an extra electron or an extra positron, violating the conservation of charge. The correct answer is A.