Kaons, Mesons & Pions

Question 1

What are cosmic rays?

Answer 1

High energy particles that travel through space from the stars.

Question 2

What happens when cosmic rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 2

They create short lived particles, anti particles and photons.

Question 3

What are the three particles that wee discovered?

Answer 3

• Muon
• Pion
• Kaon

Question 4

What is a muon?

Answer 4

Heavy Electron/Muon
• Negatively charged particle.
• Rest mass 200 times the rest mass of the electron

Question 5

What is the charge of a pion?

Answer 5

Pion Meson
• Positively Charged
• Negatively Charged
• Neutral

Question 6

What is the mass of a pion?

Answer 6

Pion Meson:
• Greater than a muon, but less than a proton.
• They are the lightest mesons

Question 7

What are the charges of a kaon?

Answer 7

K Meson
• Positive
• Negative
• Neutral

Question 8

What is the rest mass of a kaon?

Answer 8

• Greater than a pion, but less than a proton.

Question 9

What is the mass of a Muon/Heavy Electron?

Answer 9

• 200 times that of an electron.

* Less than a pion

Question 10

What are some features of kaons?

Answer 10

• Not very stable, they are more unstable than pions.

* Have a very short lifetime, and decay into pions.

Question 11

What do kaons decay into?

Answer 11

• Pions
or
• Muon, and an antineutrino
/ 
• antimuon and a neutrino

Question 12

What is the decay of charged pions?

Answer 12

• Muon and an antineutrino
or
• antimuon and a neutrino

Question 13

What is the decay of a neutral meson?

Answer 13

High energy photons

Question 14

What is the decay of a muon?

Answer 14

• Electron and an antineutrino

Question 15

What is the decay of an antimuon?

Answer 15

• Positron and neutrino