Particles and radiation Flashcards
How do you calculate specific charge
Charge/Mass
What is an isotope
Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons
What is the strong nuclear force?
The strong nuclear force is a force that keeps nuclei stable. IT only acts on nucleons and has an attractive force at up to 3fm but a repulsive force from 0.5fm
What is an unstable nuclei?
An unstable nuclei has either too many protons or neutrons or both.
What is alpha decay?
Occurs in large nuclei when there is too many protons and neutrons.
Decays 4 2 so 2 protons go and 4 nucleons in total go
What is beta minus decay.
Occurs when there are too many neutrons.Protons increase by 1 and nucleons stay the same.
What features do particles and antiparticles differ in?
They have the same mass and rest energy however opposite charge and quark composition
What equation links energy of a photon and frequency of electromagnetic radiation?
E = hf
What is annihilation?
Where a particle and its corresponding antiparticle collide. As a result their masses are transferred to energy. This energy is released as 2 photons moving in opposite directions.
What is a photon?
A photon is a packet of electromagnetic radiation that have no mass but transfer energy.
What is pair production?
Pair production is where a photon is converted into an equal amount of matter and antimatter. This can only occur when the photon has an energy greater than the rest energy of both the new particles that it creates. Any spare energy is transferred to kinetic of the new particles.
What are the four fundamental forces?
Gravity, electromagnetic, weak and strong.
What are exchange particles and what are their functions.
Exchange particles carry energy and momentum between particles.
What is the characteristics of the strong force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)
Gluon, 3fm, hadrons
What is the characteristics of the weak force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)
W boson(W+ or W-), 10^-18, all particles
What is the characteristics of the electromagnetic force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)
Virtual photon, Infinite, particles with mass
What are the characteristics of the gravitational force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)
Graviton, infinite, particles with mass
Which 4 interactions are the weak nuclear force responsible for?
Electron capture, Electron proton collision, Beta plus decay, Beta minus decay.
What does electron capture look like?
Proton, electron -> neutron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W+ boson
What does electron-proton collision look like?
Proton, electron -> neutron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W- boson
What does beta plus decay look like?
Proton -> neutron, positron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W+ boson
What does beta minus decay look like?
Neutron -> proton, electron, anti electro neutrino
Transfer particle W- boson
What are the two main classifications of particles?
Hadrons or leptons,
Leptons are fundemental particles meaning that they cannot be broken down any further.They do not experience the strong force
Hadrons are formed of quarks, they can experience the strong force
What are the 2 subclasses of hadrons?
Baryons and mesons,
Baryons are formed of 3 quarks
Mesons are formed of a quark antiquark pair