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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenOver time, more and more particles were discovered, with electrons, protons, neutrinos, and neutrons, the basic blocks that make up the universe, becoming part of a larger family of particles.
At the moment, the standard model features seventeen elemental particles. It includes particles like quarks, which make up matter, and photons, which are responsible for the energy exchanges in the matter.
The classification of elemental particles divides them by their properties or interactions. As the particle number increased, a more general classification was needed, and so the particles were divided into three large families, leptons, hadrons, and field carriers (bosons). The three families have distinct characteristics and are subject to different forces, having different roles in the universe.
The particles can be classified as follows:
Quarks are the particles that make up the hadrons. Quarks are responsible for giving hadrons their charge. Examples include the bottom quark and the down quark, which make up protons and neutrons. Each quark has its fundamental charge. Quarks, electrons, and neutrinos also form another sub-family known as fermions.
If you add up the charge of all quarks, you get the total fundamental charge of the particle. If you then add the baryon number, you obtain the sign number that tells you if the particle is matter or antimatter. See the following table showing the quark charges.
Particle | Symbol | Batch |
Up | u | + ⅔ |
Anti-up | -⅔ | |
Down | d | - ⅓ |
Anti-down | + ⅓ | |
Strange | s | - ⅓ |
Anti-strange | + ⅓ |
We can see that if we have two up quarks and one down quark, we have a proton with a charge of 1. If we have one up quark and two down quarks, we have a neutron with a charge of 0.
An antiproton combines two anti-up and one anti-down quark. An antiproton has the same mass as a proton, but its charge is negative.
Strange particles are additional particles that are formed when high-energy beams collide with atoms. Strange particles disintegrate more slowly than other quarks. They possess a quality that has been named the strange number.
Hadrons are particles that compose most of the matter’s mass. The neutron is an example of a hadron. Hadrons have the following key characteristics:
The proton is a hadron that consists of three quarks, each of which has a charge. Two of the quarks have a charge of ⅔ e, while the third one has a charge of -⅓. The sum of the charges is 2 (⅔) +1 (-⅓), with the total or elementary charge of the proton being +1.
Hadrons can be classified into two categories:
Antiquarks and antimatter, such as positrons (positive electrons), antiprotons, and antineutrons, belong to the same families as their counterparts (quarks, electrons, protons, and neutrons). The key difference between them and normal matter is that some of their characteristics, such as the electrical charge, are the opposite.
Leptons are elemental particles that cannot split themselves into smaller particles. They are not affected by the strong nuclear force that keeps protons and neutrons together in the nucleus. Leptons have a charge like hadrons, they are affected by the weak nuclear force, and they can be classified into charged particles and neutral particles.
The model of the universe consists of particles that make up matter and four elemental forces. These forces are gravity, the electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. They are also known as bosons.
The Higgs boson has been one of the last particles to have been discovered. Proposed by Peter Higgs and discovered in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), it provides information about how particles obtain their mass.
Quarks are particles that make up other particles.
Yes, they are.
Particles are classified into hadrons, leptons and force field carriers.
How many particles are there?
In the standard model, there are currently seventeen particles.
What is the standard model?
It is the model that defines the interaction and the types of particles.
What is a hadron?
Hadrons are the particles that make up the nucleus of the atom.
What are hadrons composed of?
They are composed of quarks.
Name two hadrons.
Protons and neutrons.
What is a lepton?
Leptons are particles that are affected by the weak nuclear force.
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