3. Particle Physics Terms And Facts Flashcards
Proton number
The bottom number of an element which shows the amount of protons and electrons in an atom of the element
Nucleon number
The top number on an element which shows the combined number of protons and neutrons
Isotope
An element with the same amount of protons but different number of neutrons
Fundamental particle
A particle that is not made up of other particles
The most basic particle
Quarks
Particles found within protons, neutrons and delta particles
Eg. Up and Down quarks
Antiquark
The complete opposite to a quark so has the opposite properties
Lepton
The family name for electrons and electron neutrinos
Hadron
A family of particles that are made up of quarks and they experience strong interaction
Umbrellas baryons and mesons
Baryon
A particle made up of 3 quarks
Mesons
A particle made out of a quark and an antiquark
Antimatter
The opposite associated antiparticle which has the same mass but has a charge which is equal and opposite of the other particle
Charge on a up quark
+ 2/3 e
Charge on down quark
- 1/3 e
Charge on electron
-1 e
Charge on electron neutrino
0
Combination of quarks in a proton
uud
Combination of quarks in a neutron
ddu
Combination of quarks in a delta minus
ddd
Combination of quarks in a delta plus plus
uuu
Charge on a delta minus
-1 e
Charge on a delta plus plus
+2 e
How can you spot an antiquark
The letter has a line/hat over the top
Charge on an anti up quark
-2/3 e
Charge on an antibottom quark
+1/3 e
Charge on a positron
+1e
Examples of leptons
Electron
Electron-neutrino
And antis
Examples of quarks
Up
Down
And antis
Examples of mesons
Pi minus
Pi plus
Pi zero
What happens when matter meets antimatter
An annihilation reaction takes place where the matter transfers into energy in the form of photons
What is pair production?
The opposite of annihilation when a gamma photon turns into an electron and a positron.
What to do when you have a question to identify the particle:
Draw out a table to compare the baryon number, lepton number and charge of the other particles. Each side of the equation must be equal to conserve energy so use this to find out the particles properties.
