Particle Physics Flashcards by Laura McMahon

what is a nucleus

made up of protons and neutrons
orbited by electrons
in the center of an atom

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what’s the mass of a proton/neutron

1.6x10-27

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what’s the mass of an electron

9.11x10-31

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

whats the charge of a proton/electron

1.6x10-19

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

whats the charge of a neutron

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are the 3 nuclide notations

A- proton number
Z- nucleon number
X- element name

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what happens when you change each subatomic particle

proton- new element
neutron- new isotope
electron- new ion

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is isotopic data

using the amount of isotopes in a material you can estimate its age (carbon dating)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is specific charge

the amount of charge something has per kg

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are the four fundamental forces and there corresponding exchange particles

gravity- graviton (theory)
SNF- gluons/pions
WNF- W+/W- bosons
electromagnetic- virtual photon

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is the strong nuclear force

holds the nucleons together. only works at short ranges and can be attractive or repulsive depending on its distance

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Information on an SNF graph

0-0.5fm repulsive
0.5-3fm- attractive
beyond 3fm (no effect)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is a neutrino

it has no mass or charge but it carries kinetic energy when a decay occurs

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is a photon

“packets” of electromagnetic waves all travelling at the speed of light

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what are the differences in photons of red light vs blue light

because red light is longer wavelength it has a lower frequency so it transfers less energy per second

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is antimatter

every particle has a corresponding antiparticle with exact opposite values (except for mass)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

what is annihilation

when matter and antimatter meet they annihilate and releases all there rest mass (internal energy) in 2 photons in opposite directions to conserve momentum

what is pair production

the exact opposite of annihilation
-if a photon has enough energy they can collide with another to create matter
to produce an particle and antiparticle you need there combined rest energies in the photon

what happens in pair production with more energetic photons

heavier particles are produced
particles have a higher kinetic energy
or lots of smaller particles

what is the particle classification system

a system to organise different types of particles (and subatomic particles)

what are the 4 main classes of particles

hadrons
leptons
mesons
baryons

what is a hadron

it can feel the SNF
can be split into quarks

what is a lepton

cannot feel the SNF
they are fundamental
can feel WNF

what are the difference between baryons and mesons

baryons- 3 quarks (protons)
mesons- 2 quarks (pions)

what are quantum numbers

fundamental properties that always needs to be conserved between an interaction

what quantities need to be conserved in an interaction

charge baryon number lepton number (electron/muon) strangeness (depends)

what are mesons

hadrons with only 2 quarks they are very unstable pions and kaons (+,0,-)

what are the most important leptons

muons- eventually decay into electrons electrons electron neutrino muon neutrino (and there antiparticles)

what to kaons eventually decay into

protons

what are the 6 quarks

u d s (anti) u d s

what are the 4 meson rules

1 quark and 1 anti quark charge must add to +1,0-1 Strangeness is 0= pion strangeness isnt 0= kaon

what is quark confinement

the idea of having a quark on its own this isn't possible the amount of energy needed to split up a pion would cause pair production

what is the quark change in beta minus decay

neutron-->proton down quark ---> up quark this is a weak interaction

what is the quark change in beta plus decay

proton --> neutron up quark---> down quark this is a weak interaction

what are the problems with discovering new particles

- its getting more expensive - scientists are still looking for gaps in patterns or missing properties

what particle has strangeness

kaons k+/k0--> +1 k-/(anti)k0 ---> -1

when is strangeness conserved

its always conserved in an SNF interaction (baryons and mesons) its sometimes conserved in an WNF interaction

what is a strong interaction

caused by SNF cant involve leptons only hadrons strangeness is conserved

what is a weak interaction

caused by WNF Probably involves leptons usually 1 particle decaying into 2 strangeness probably not conserved

what are exchange particles

transmit forces between particles via momentum and energy sometimes called gauge bosons

Feynman diagrams

beta minus decay beta plus decay electromagnetic repulsion electron capture electron/proton collision