Topic 1 - Particles Flashcards

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1
Q

Alpha Radiation

A

Particles that each consist of two protons and two neutrons.

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2
Q

Annihilation

A

When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they destroy each other and become radiation.

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3
Q

Antibaryon

A

A hadron consisting of three antiquarks.

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4
Q

Antimatter

A

Antiparticles that each have the same rest mass and, if charged, have equal and opposite charge to the corresponding particle.

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5
Q

Antimuon

A

Antiparticle of the muon.

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6
Q

Antineutrino

A

The antiparticle of the neutrino.

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7
Q

Antiparticle

A

There is an antiparticle for every type of particle. A particle and its corresponding antiparticle have equal rest mass and, if charged, equal and opposite charge.

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8
Q

Antiquark

A

Antiparticle of a quark.

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9
Q

Atomic Number (Z)

A

The number of protons in the Nucleus of an Atom.

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10
Q

Baryon

A

A hadron consisting of three quarks.

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11
Q

Beta Radiation

A

Beta- particles are fast moving electrons emitted by unstable neutron-rich nuclei; Beta+ particles are fast moving positrons emitted by unstable proton-rich nuclei.

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12
Q

Conservation rules

A

Conservation of energy, momentum, charge, baryon number and lepton number applies to all particle interaction. Conservation of strangeness applies to strong interactions only.

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13
Q

Electromagnetic interaction

A

Interaction between two charged objects.

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14
Q

Electron Capture

A

Process in which an inner-shell electron of an atom is captured by the nucleus.

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15
Q

Energy

A

The capacity to do work.

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16
Q

Gamma radiation

A

High-energy photons emitted by unstable nuclei or produced in particle annihilations.

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17
Q

Hadron

A

Particles and antiparticles that can interact through the strong interaction.

18
Q

Isotopes

A

Atoms of an element with different numbers of neutrons and the same number of protons.

19
Q

Kaon (or K meson)

A

A meson that consists of a strange quark or antiquark and another quark or antiquark.

20
Q

Lepton

A

Electrons, positrons, muons and antimuons, neutrinos and their antiparticles are classified as leptons because they cannot interact through the strong interaction. They interact through the weak interaction and, in the case of electrons and positrons, through the electromagnetic interaction.

21
Q

Lepton Number

A

A lepton number is assigned to every lepton (+1) and antilepton (-1), on the basis that the total lepton number for each branch of the lepton family is always conserved.

22
Q

Meson

A

A hadron consisting of a quark and an antiquark.

23
Q

Muon

A

A lepton that is negatively charged and has a greater rest mass than the electron.

24
Q

Neutrino

A

Uncharged lepton with a very low rest mass compared with the electron.

25
Q

Neutrino types (or ‘branches’)

A

There are three types of neutrinos, the electron neutrino, the muon neutrino, and the tau neutrino. This Specification only requires knowledge of the electron neutrino and the muon neutrino branches (and their antiparticles) of the lepton family.

26
Q

Nucleon

A

A neutron or proton in the nucleus.

27
Q

Nucleon number A

A

The number of neutrons and protons in a nucleus; also referred to as the mass number.

28
Q

Nuclide

A

A type of nucleus with a particular number of protons and neutrons.

29
Q

Pair production

A

When gamma photon changes into a particle and an antiparticle.

30
Q

Pion

A

A meson that consists of an up or down quark and an up or down antiquark.

31
Q

Positron

A

Antiparticle of the electron.

32
Q

Quark

A

Protons and neutrons and other hadrons consist of quarks. There are six types of quarks, they are: up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom. The specification requires only that students know the up, down and strange quarks.

33
Q

Quark model (or standard model)

A

A quark can join with an antiquark to form a meson or with two other quarks to form a baryon. An antiquark can join with two other antiquarks to form an antibaryon.

34
Q

Rest energy

A

Energy due to rest mass, equal to m0c^2 where c is the speed of light in a vacuum and m0 is the rest mass.

35
Q

Specific charge

A

Charge/mass value of a charged particle.

36
Q

Strangeness number

A

A strangeness number is assigned to every particle and antiparticle on the basis that strangeness is always conserved in the strong interaction, but not in the weak interaction or a decay involving a strange quark or antiquark.

37
Q

Strong interaction

A

Interaction between two hadrons.

38
Q

Strong nuclear force

A

Attractive force between nucleons that holds the nucleons in the nucleus.

39
Q

Virtual photon

A

Carrier of the electromagnetic force; a photon exchanged between two charged particles when they interact.

40
Q

W boson

A

Carrier of the weak nuclear force; w bosons have a non-zero rest mass and may be positive or negative.

41
Q

Weak interaction

A

Interaction between two leptons

42
Q

Weak nuclear force

A

Force responsible for beta decay.