particle physics Flashcards
conservation in a nuclear reaction
- mass-energy
- momentum
- electric charge
Disintegration energy (Q)
energy released when a radioactive disintegration takes place
wolfgang pauli
proposed existence of 3rd particle emitted during beta decay, the neutrino in 1931 to account for loss of energy/momentum during beta decay i.e. conservation of energy/momentum did not work for b-decay
enrico fermi
named neutrino
cowan and reines
first to detect neutrino. only interacts very weakly with matter which is why it went undetected for so long
john cockroft and ernest walton
produced a nuclear disintegration by bombarding lithium with artificially accelerated protons
-1st artificial splitting of a nucleus
-1st transmutation using artificially accelerated particles
-first experimental verification of E = mc^
-won nobel prize
rutherford
first artificial transmutation
-bombarded nitrogen with a-particles
paul dirac
predicted the existence of antiparticles (antimatter) and positrons mathematically
segre and chamberlin
discovered antiproton
carl david anderson
discovered positron (first known antiparticle) by observing it in a cloud chamber
positron
antiparticle of the electron (same mass, opposite charge)
-produced tracks in a cloud chamber similar to an electron but was deflected in the opposite direction in a magnetic field
pair production
the creating of 2 particles from energy.
-in pair production a particle and its antiparticle are created and momentum and charge are conserved
-occurs when high energy gamma ray photon loses its energy (hf) when it collides with a nucleus
pair production equation
hf = 2mc^2 + Ek1 + Ek2
pair annihilation
when 2 antiparticles are almost at rest and near each other they join together and disappear producing energy
-momentum before is almost 0 so momentum after must be 0. as a result 2 photons are produced in opposite directions
pair annihilation formula
e+ + e- = 2hf