Particles

Question 1

What is the Nucleon Number?

Answer 1

Mass Number - protons and neutrons -

Question 2

What is the symbol for the Nucleon Number?

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the Proton Number?

Answer 3

Atomic Number - number of protons -

Question 4

What is the Symbol for the Proton Number?

Answer 4

Z

Question 5

What is the Nuclide notation?

Answer 5

Summarises all the information about an elements atomic structure.

Question 6

What is the Specific Charge of a particle?

Answer 6

The ratio of its charge to its mass.

Question 7

What is the unit for Specific Charge?

Answer 7

C Kg*-1

Question 8

How do you calculate the Specific Charge?

Answer 8

Divide the Charge (C) by the Mass (Kg).

Question 9

What is an isotope?

Answer 9

An atom with a Same number of Protons, but a changing number of neutrons.

Question 10

What do isotopes effect?

Answer 10

The stability of the atom.

Question 11

What is isotopic data?

Answer 11

The relative amounts of the different isotopes of an element present in a substance.

Question 12

Example of isotopic data?

Answer 12

Carbon-14 is in most living things, so when they die, scientists can calculate the age of the object by finding the percentage if radioactive carbon-14 that’s left in the object.

Question 13

What are the four forces in the nucleus?

Answer 13

Electromagnetic Force.
Gravitational Force.
Strong Force.
Weak Force.

Question 14

What is the Electromagnetic Force?

Answer 14

Causes the positively charges protons in the nucleus to repel each other.

Question 15

What is the Gravitational Force?

Answer 15

Causes all the nucleons in the nucleus to attract each other due to their mass.

Question 16

What is the Strong Force?

Answer 16

The attractive force that holds the nucleus together.

Question 17

What is Beta - Decay?

Answer 17

The emission of an electron from the nucleus along with an antineutrino particle.
When a nucleus ejects a beta particle, one of the neutrons in the nucleus is changed into a proton.

Question 18

What is the electromagnetic spectrum?

Answer 18

A continuous spectrum of all the possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
The frequency of a wave is the number of complete waves passing a point per second.
The wavelength is the distance between two adjacent crests of a wave.
The higher the frequency of electromagnetic radiation, the greater the energy.

Question 19

What are photons?

Answer 19

Discrete packets of electromagnetic waves and the energy it carries

Question 20

What is an antiparticle?

Answer 20

Every particle has a corresponding antiparticle with the same mass, but different charge.

Question 21

What are some examples of anti particles?

Answer 21

Proton and Antiproton.
Neutron and Antineutron.
Electron and Positron.
Neutrino and Antineutrino.

All of which has the same mass and rest energies, but different charges.

Question 22

What is pair production?

Answer 22

When energy is turned into mass, you get equal amounts of matter and antimatter.
Pair production only happens if there is enough energy to produce the masses of the particles.

Question 23

What are Hadrons?

Answer 23

Made up from quarks.
There are two types of Hadrons - mesons and baryons.
Feel the Strong Nuclear Force.

Question 24

What are Baryons?

Answer 24

Type of Hadron.
The Proton and Neutron (nucleons) are both types of Baryon.

Question 25

What is the Baryon Number?

Answer 25

A quantum number that must always be conserved. It tells you the number of baryons.

Question 26

What are examples of Baryon Numbers?

Answer 26

Protons, neutrons and other baryons, have a baryon number of +1. Anti-baryons (Antiproton) has a baryon number of -1. Other particles that aren't baryons , such as electrons, have a baryon number of 0.

Question 27

What are Mesons.

Answer 27

Type of Hadron. Unstable.

Question 28

What are the types of Mesons?

Answer 28

Pions - the exchange particles of the nuclear force , that has 3 different charges. Kaons - More unstable than pions, and decay into pions.

Question 29

What are leptons?

Answer 29

Fundamental Particles (not composed of other particles). Do not feel the Strong Force. They react with other particles via the weak interaction. Electrons and Muons are types of Lepton

Question 30

What is the lepton number?

Answer 30

A quantum number to identify leptons.

Question 31

What are strange particles?

Answer 31

Created via the strong interaction. Strange particles can only be created in pairs.

Question 32

What is strangeness?

Answer 32

Similarly to the Baryon number, Strangeness is a quantum number. Strangeness can be found in Kaons, with K+ having a strangeness of +1 and K- having a strangeness of -1.

Question 33

What properties have to be conserved in particle reactions?

Answer 33

Charge. Baryon Number. Lepton Number. Strangeness. Energy. Momentum.

Question 34

Name the 3 types of Quark.

Answer 34

Up. Down. Strange.

Question 35

What are the properties of the 3 types of Quark?

Answer 35

Up: symbol = u Charge = +2/3 Baryon Number = +1/3 Strangeness = 0 Down: Symbol = d Charge = -1/3 Baryon Number = +1/3 Strangeness = 0 Strange: Symbol = s Charge = -1/3 Baryon Number = +1/3 Strangeness = -1

Question 36

What are the properties of Antiquarks?

Answer 36

opposite properties to the Quarks.

Question 37

What is the Quark composition of Baryons?

Answer 37

Baryons are made up of 3 different types of Quarks: uud udd anti (uud) anti (ddu)

Question 38

What is the Quark composition of Mesons?

Answer 38

All mesons are made up from one quark and one antiquark. Pions: π⁺ = u and anti (d) π⁻ = d and anti (u) π⁰ = u and anti (u) π⁰ = d and anti (d) Kaons: K+ = u and anti (s) K− = s and anti (u) K0 = s and anti (d) K0 = d and anti (s)

Question 39

What is Quark Confinement?

Answer 39

It is impossible to get a quark by itself. If you were to blast a proton with a lot of energy, the quark will not be removed, instead the energy would turn into matter.

Question 40

What is Particle exchange?

Answer 40

All forces are caused by particle exchange. Exchange particles interact with particles to produce the effects of attraction or repulsion.

Question 41

What is Repulsion?

Answer 41

Imagine two skaters on ice throwing a ball, and every time they throw/catch the ball they get pushed further apart as the ball carries momentum. The skaters represent particles interacting with each other, and the ball is the exchange particle that causes a repulsive force.

Question 42

What is Attraction?

Answer 42

Imagine two skaters on ice facing away throwing a boomerang, and every time the boomerang is thrown/caught they get pushed together. The Skaters are the interacting particles and the boomerang in the exchange particle.

Question 43

What are Exchange particles?

Answer 43

How the forces act between two particles - know as virtual particles. Virtual particles last for a short amount of time - long enough to transfer energy, momentum and other properties. The repulsion of protons are caused by the exchange of virtual photons (electromagnetic force). All Forces are caused by the 4 fundamental forces, each one has its own exchange particles , named gauge bosons.