Particles and Waves Flashcards
(96 cards)
What evidence is there for antimatter?
Positrons discovered ocurring naturally in cosmic rays.
What is the Standard Model?
The Standard Model explains how the basic building blocks of matter interact, governed by four fundamental forces.
What is a fundamental particle?
A fundamental particle is one that cannot be broken down into any sub particles.
What is a Fermion?
It is a matter particle.
What are the two types of Fermions?
Quark
and
Lepton
What are the names of the 6 types of Quarks?
- Up
- Down
- Charm
- Strange
- Top
- Bottom
What are the names of the 6 types of Leptons?
- Electron
- Electron neutrino
- Muon
- Muon neutrino
- Tau
- Tau Neutrino
How does an antimatter particle compare with a matter particle?
Antimatter particle has similar properties to the matter particle but equal and opposite charge.
What is meant by a Hadron?
Particles made from quarks
What is meant by a Baryon?
Baryons are made from 3 quarks
What is meant by a Meson?
Mesons are made from 2 quarks.
They always consist of a quark and an antiquark pair.
Give an example of a Baryon.
Proton
Neutron
What is a Boson?
Bosons are force carrying particles.
Name the four Bosons.
- Photons
- W and Z Bosons
- Gluons
- Gravitons
What force is carried by a photon?
Electromagnetic Force
What force is carried by W and Z bosons?
Weak force
What force is carried by a Gluon?
Strong force
What force is carried by a Graviton?
Gravity force
A proton is made up of two up quarks and a down quark. The up quarks are both positively charged. Why does the proton not get torn apart?
Gluons carry the strong force to hold the quarks together. This strong force is greater than the force of repulsion between the particles.
What is beta (minus) decay?
Beta (minus) decay is when a neutron decays into a proton releasing an electron and an antineutrino.
What did beta decay provide the first evidence for?
The existence of neutrinos.
Why were neutrinos suggested as an extra particle produced as a result of beta decay?
When beta decay occurs momentum and energy should be conserved. This was not happening if only the proton and beta particle were considered. There had to be another particle that carried the rest of the energy away.
In physics what is meant by a field?
It is the region where an object experiences a force.
What is the definition for electric field strength?
The electric force per unit charge acting at a point in the field.














