Pair production

If a photon passes very close to a nucleus, it can produce a particle and an antiparticle.

It’s important to note that it produces two things: a particle and antiparticle.

That means we convert energy (of the photon) into mass (of the particle and antiparticle)!

Photon energy

• The photon needs to have quite a lot of energy to cause pair production: photon energy is based on its frequency.
• We usually need a gamma ray for pair production to happen.