Particles And Forces

Question 1

what is a baryon

Answer 1

a particle made up of the combination of 3 quarks

Question 2

what are the simplest examples of baryons

Answer 2

protons and neutrons

Question 3

what quarks does a proton consist of

Answer 3

• 2 up quarks

- 1 down quark

Question 4

therefore why does a proton have a charge of +1

Answer 4

• up quark has a charge of +2/3
• down quark has a charge of -1/3
• +2/3 +2/3 -1/3 = +3/3 = +1

Question 5

what quarks does a neutron consist of

Answer 5

• 2 down quarks

- 1 up quark

Question 6

therefore why does a neutron have a charge of 0

Answer 6

• up quark has a charge of +2/3
• down quark has a charge of -1/3
• -1/3 -1/3 +2/3 = 0

Question 7

what determines how long a baryon particle will exist for

Answer 7

• the strength of their nuclear force
• strong nuclear forces result in faster decays
• whereas decay via the weak nuclear force is longer

Question 8

what makes a particle like a proton an an anti-particle

Answer 8

all the quarks that the particle consists of are anti-particles of their normal matter particles

Question 9

what is a meson

Answer 9

a particle made up of the combination of a quark and an anti-quark

Question 10

what are the two most common mesons

Answer 10

• the pion

- the kaon

Question 11

what does a poin consist of

Answer 11

any combination of up and down quark / anti-quark pairings

Question 12

what does a kaon consist of

Answer 12

• any combination of an up and down quark / anti-quark

- and a strange or anti-strange quark

Question 13

given the definition, what is the charge of a meson

Answer 13

0

Question 14

what is a hadron

Answer 14

any particle that feels and interacts with the strong nuclear force

Question 15

are baryons and mesons both hadrons, or only one of them

Answer 15

they are both hadrons

Question 16

what is an exchange boson

Answer 16

• particles that enables the transfer of force

- each of the four fundamental forces has its own exchange boson

Question 17

what are the four forces of nature that matter particles interact by

Answer 17

• gravity
• electromagnetic force
• weak nuclear force
• strong nuclear force

Question 18

what does the existence of exchange boson mean how we think about interactions

Answer 18

• the process by which these forces act have been modelled as an exchange of bosons
• so it isnt simply like theres nothing between two interacting bodies

Question 19

for examples sake, how would a proton and an electron electrostatically interact (attract) using the exchanging bosons model

Answer 19

they would pass photons backwards and forwards between each other

Question 20

using this model, what is the real definition of gravity

Answer 20

• the weakest of the four fundamental forces
• transmitted by the theoretical graviton particle
• which affects all objects

Question 21

using this model, what is the real definition of electromagnetic force

Answer 21

• one of the four fundamental forces

- transmitted by photons acting between objects with charges

Question 22

using this model, what is the real definition of the strong nuclear force

Answer 22

• the strongest of the four fundamental forces

- transmitted by gluons acting at very short ranges between hadrons (10^-15m)

Question 23

using this model, what is the real definition of the weak nuclear force

Answer 23

• one of the four fundamental forces
• transmitted by W or Z bosons
• acting at extremely short ranges (10^-18m)
• it can affect all matter particles

Question 24

what is the exchange boson, boson symbol and boson charge for the electromagnetic force

Answer 24

• exchange boson is the photon
• boson symbol is the gamma symbol Y
• boson charge = 0

Question 25

what are the exchange bosons, boson symbol and boson charge for the weak nuclear force

Answer 25

• exchange bosons are the W and Z
• boson symbols are W+, W- Z(0)
• boson charges are -1 for W-, +1 for W+ and 0 for Z(0)

Question 26

what is the exchange boson, boson symbol and boson charge for the strong nuclear force

Answer 26

• exchange boson is the gluon
• boson symbol is g
• boson charge is 0

Question 27

what is the exchange boson, boson symbol and boson charge for gravity

Answer 27

• exchange boson is the graviton

- doesnt have a boson symbol or charge because we havent found it yet