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ALevel Physics NEW > Section 1 - Particles > Flashcards

Section 1 - Particles Flashcards

1
Q

What are atoms made up of?

A

Protons, neutrons, electrons

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2
Q

What is a nucleus made up of?

A

Protons and neutrons

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3
Q

What is the collective name for protons and neutrons?

A

Nucleons

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4
Q

What is the relative charge for a proton, neutron and electron?

A 
Proton = +1
Neutron = 0
Electron = -1
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5
Q

What is the relative mass for a proton, neutron and electron?

A 
Proton = 1
Neutron = 1
Electron = 0.0005
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6
Q

What is the proton number?

A

The number of protons in the nucleus

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7
Q

What is the atomic number, and what is its symbol?

A

The number of protons. Symbol Z

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8
Q

What defines an element?

A

The proton number

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9
Q

What condition must be satisfied for an element to be neutral?

A

Proton number must equal the neutron number

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10
Q

What does an element’s chemical behaviour depend on?

A

The number of electrons

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11
Q

What is the nucleon number and what is its symbol?

A

The total amount of protons and neutrons in an atom, symbol A

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12
Q

What is the mass number?

A

Total number of protons and neutrons

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13
Q

What are isotopes?

A

Atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons

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14
Q

What does changing the number of neutrons in an atom do?

A

Does not effect chemical properties, but changes stability

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15
Q

What happens to unstable nuclei?

A

They may be radioactive and decay into different nuclei

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16
Q

What is a use for radioactive isotopes?

A

Find out how old stuff is

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17
Q

How do you find out how old stuff is with radioactive isotopes?

A
  • All living things have the same number of carbon-14
  • After they die, the carbon-14 decreases over time as it decays into stable elements
  • Can calc age by using isotopic data to find the % of radioactive carbon-14 left in an object
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18
Q

What is specific charge?

A

The ratio of its charge to its mass

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19
Q

What is the unit of specific charge?

A

C/kg

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20
Q

What does the strong nuclear force do?

A

Binds nucleons together

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21
Q

What is the range of the strong nuclear force when holding nucleons together?

A

A few femtometeres

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22
Q

Describe the graph of the strong nuclear force

A
  • Repulsive for very small separations (up to 1/2 femtometer)
  • After 1/2 femtometer, SNF becomes attractive
  • Reaches a maximum value, then falls rapidly towards 0 after 3 femtometer
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23
Q

Why does the SNF have to be repulsive at very small distances?

A

To stop the nucleus crushing to a point

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24
Q

Where does alpha emission happen?

A

In very big nuclei

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25
Q

Why does alpha emission happen in big nuclei?

A

Because the nuclei are too massive for the SNF to keep them stable

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26
Q

What happens when an alpha particle is emitted?

A

The proton number decreases by 2, the nucleon number decreases by 4

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27
Q

What is the range of an alpha particle?

A

A few cm in air

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28
Q

How can you observe alpha particles?

A

Using a cloud chamber or a Geiger counter

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29
Q

How can you use a Geiger counter to measure alpha particles?

A

Bring it close to the source and move it away slowly. Then count how the count rate drops

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30
Q

When does beta-minus emission happen?

A

In neutron rich nuclei

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31
Q

What is emitted in beta-minus emission?

A

An electron and an antineutrino

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32
Q

What happens when a nucleus emits a beta particle?

A

A neutron is changed into a proton

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33
Q

What happens in beta minus emission?

A

The proton number increases by one, the nucleon number stays the same

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34
Q

Why do you get an antineutrino in beta minus decay?

A

To carry away some energy and momentum

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35
Q

List the spectrum in order of increasing frequency

A

Radio, micro, infra, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma

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36
Q

What is an anti particle?

A

A particle with the same mass and rest energy, but opposite charge to the particle

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37
Q

What is the anti particles for a proton, neutron, electron and neutrino?

A

Proton, anti-proton
Neutron- anti-neutron
Electron, positron
Neutrino, anti-neutrino

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38
Q

What is the rest energy of particle?

A

The energy equivalent of the particle’s mass

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39
Q

What happens when energy is converted to mass?

A

You get equal amounts of matter and antimatter

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40
Q

What produces a particle, antiparticle pair?

A

A single photon

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41
Q

When does pair production occur?

A

When one photon has enough energy to produce that much mass

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42
Q

What photons have enough energy to produce mass, and where does this usually occur?

A

Gamma ray photons, near the nucleus

43
Q

What is the minimum energy needed for a photon to undergo pair production?

A

The total rest energy of the particles produced

44
Q

When energy is converted to matter, what is this called?

A

Pair production

45
Q

When mass is converted to energy, what is this called?

A

Annihilation

46
Q

What happens when a particle meets its corresponding antiparticle?

A

Annihilation

47
Q

What happens in annihilation?

A

All of the mass of the particle gets converted back to energy

48
Q

What are forces caused by?

A

Particle exhcnage

49
Q

What are exchange particles called?

A

Gauge bosons

50
Q

What is the repulsion between 2 protons caused by?

A

Exchange of virtual photons

51
Q

State the 4 fundamental forces

A

SNF, WNF, Gravity, Electromagnetic

52
Q

In electromagnetic interaction, what is the gauge boson and the particles effected?

A

Virtual photon, charged particles

53
Q

In weak interaction, what is the gauge boson and the particles effected?

A

W+, W-, all types of particles

54
Q

In strong interaction, what is the gauge boson and the particles effected?

A

pions (pi+, pi-, pi0), hadrons only

55
Q

What happens when the mass of the gauge boson is larger?

A

The force has a shorter range

56
Q

What is the mass of a W boson?

A

100x the proton

57
Q

Describe the feyman diagram for electromagnetic repulsion

A

e- and e- go in, virtual photon exchanged, e- and e- go out. Same for positron

58
Q

Describe the feyman diagram for electron-proton/ electron capture collisons

A

p and e- go in, W+ exchanged, neutron and neutrino out

59
Q

What is the equation for electron capture

A

p + e- -> n + ve

60
Q

Describe the feyman diagram for beta-minus decay

A

neutron in, W- exchanged, proton, electron and antineutrino

61
Q

Describe the feyman diagram for beta-plus decay

A

proton in, W+ exchanged, neutron, positron and neutrino out

62
Q

What is the equation for beta-minus decay

A

n -> p + e- + anti ve

63
Q

What is the equation for beta-plus decay

A

p -> n + e+ + ve

64
Q

What are hadrons?

A

Partciles that feel SNF

65
Q

Are hadrons fundamental partciles?

A

No, they are made up of quarks

66
Q

What are the 2 types of hadrons?

A

Baryons and mesons

67
Q

What baryons are there?

A

Protons and neutrons

68
Q

Which baryon is stable?

A

Protons, all others are unstable

69
Q

What do all baryons decay into?

A

A proton (Apart from protons hehe)

70
Q

Which family do antiprotons and antineutrons belong to?

A

Anti-baryons

71
Q

What is the baryon number?

A

The number of baryons in an interaction

72
Q

What is the baryon number for baryons, antibaryons, and non baryons?

A 
Baryon = +1
Antibaryon = -1
Non-baryon = 0
73
Q

Does the baryon number have to be conserved in an interaction?

A

Yes, the total baryon number in any particle interaction never changes

74
Q

What do neutron decay into?

75
Q

Are electrons and antineutrinos baryons?

A

No, they’re leptons

76
Q

What mesons are there?

A

Pions and kaons

77
Q

Are all mesons stable?

78
Q

Which meson is the lightest?

A

Pions, which have 3 charges

79
Q

Are kaons more unstable and heavier than pions?

A

Yes, they come in K+ and K0

80
Q

What do kaons decay into?

81
Q

What force do mesons and baryons interact through?

82
Q

Do leptons feel the SNF?

83
Q

Are leptons fundamental particles?

84
Q

What force do leptons interact by?

85
Q

Are electrons stable?

86
Q

Are muons leptons, and how stable are they?

A

Yes, they are unstable

87
Q

What do muons decay into?

88
Q

What is the neutrino for electrons and muons?

A

Electron neutrtino, muon neutrino

89
Q

What is the mass and charge of a neutrino?

A

Basically 0 mass, no charge

90
Q

What are the 2 types of lepton number?

A

Lepton electron number, lepton muon number

91
Q

What is the Le number for an electron, electron-neutrino, muon and muon neutrino?

A

Electron = +1
Electron-neutrino = +1
muon and muon-neutrino = 0

92
Q

What is the Lmu number for an electron, electron-neutrino, muon and muon neutrino?

A

Electron = 0
Electron-neutrino = 0
muon and muon-neutrino = +1

93
Q

What are quarks?

A

Fundamental particles - building blocks for hadrons

94
Q

Is strangeness always conserved?

95
Q

When is strangeness conserved?

A

In strong interaction, not weak interaction

96
Q

How are strange particles produced?

97
Q

State the quark composition for:
Proton, antiproton
Neutron, antineutron

A 
Proton = uud
Antiproton = antiU antiU antiD
Neutron = udd
Antineutron = antiU antiD antiD
98
Q

What are mesons?

A

A quark and an anti quark

99
Q

What are pions made up of

A

Combinations of up, anti-up, down, anti-down quarks

100
Q

Out of Pions, mesons and kaons, which ones are strange?

101
Q

What is the relation between the pi- and pi+, K- and K+?

A

pi- is the antiparticle of pi+, K- is the anti particle of K+

102
Q

How can you change the quark type?

A

Via weak interaction

103
Q

What 6 properties are conserved in particle interactions?

A

Charge, baryon number, strangeness (in strong), energy, momentum, lepton (both)

104
Q

Can you separate quarks?

ALevel Physics NEW (12 decks)

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