Particles Flashcards
(39 cards)
What is an antiparticle?
A particle with the same mass but opposite charge and quantum numbers as its corresponding particle.
What is the charge of a proton?
+1 e (elementary charge)
What is the charge of an electron?
-1 e (elementary charge)
What is the charge of a neutron?
0 (neutral)
What is a hadron?
A particle made of quarks, experiencing the strong nuclear force.
What are the two types of hadrons?
Baryons and mesons.
What is a baryon?
A hadron made of three quarks (e.g., proton, neutron).
What is a meson?
A hadron made of a quark and an antiquark (e.g., pion, kaon).
What is a lepton?
A fundamental particle that does not experience the strong nuclear force (e.g., electron, neutrino).
Name the six types of quarks.
Up, Down, Strange, Charm, Top, Bottom.
What are the charges of up, down, and strange quarks?
Up: +2/3 e, Down: -1/3 e, Strange: -1/3 e.
What is the quark structure of a proton?
uud (up-up-down).
What is the quark structure of a neutron?
udd (up-down-down).
What force binds quarks together?
The strong nuclear force, mediated by gluons.
What is the weak nuclear force responsible for?
Beta decay and changing quark types.
What is beta-minus decay?
A neutron turns into a proton, emitting an electron and an antineutrino.
What is beta-plus decay?
A proton turns into a neutron, emitting a positron and a neutrino.
What is a neutrino?
A nearly massless, neutral lepton that interacts weakly.
What are the three types of neutrinos?
Electron neutrino, Muon neutrino, Tau neutrino.
What is pair production?
A photon creates a particle-antiparticle pair, conserving energy and momentum.
What is annihilation?
A particle and its antiparticle collide, converting their mass into energy.
What is a Feynman diagram?
A graphical representation of particle interactions.
What is the exchange particle of the electromagnetic force?
The photon (γ).
What is the exchange particle of the strong force?
The gluon (g).
