CIE A Level Physics: Fundamental Particles and Quark Model in Physics

Quark

Fundamental particles making up protons and neutrons.

Hadrons

Particles made up of quarks.

Fundamental Particles

Particles not composed of smaller particles.

Quark Flavours

Six types: up, down, charm, strange, top, bottom.

Leptons

Fundamental particles not made of quarks.

Electron

A negatively charged lepton.

Muon

Lepton similar to electron, larger mass.

Tau

Lepton heavier than muon and electron.

Neutrinos

Charge-less particles with negligible mass.

Anti-lepton

Antiparticle corresponding to a lepton.

Charge of Hadrons

Determined by sum of quark charges.

Quark Charge

Each quark has +⅔e or -⅓e charge.

Proton Composition

Two up quarks and one down quark.

Neutron Composition

Two down quarks and one up quark.

Anti-quark

Quark with opposite charge.

Anti-proton

Proton's antiparticle made of anti-quarks.

Anti-neutron

Neutron's antiparticle made of anti-quarks.

Weak Interaction

Force leptons interact with, excluding strong force.

Electromagnetic Force

Force leptons interact with, involving charge.

Gravitational Force

Force leptons interact with due to mass.

Quark Model of Beta Decay

Describes quark interactions during particle decay.

Pion

Meson made of quarks, not a fundamental particle.

Charge Calculation Example

Combining quark charges to find particle charge.

Quark Combinations

Particles formed by two or three quarks.

Quark Composition

Specific arrangement of quarks in particles.

56Fe

Iron isotope with 26 protons and 30 neutrons.

Protons

Positively charged particles in atomic nuclei.

Neutrons

Neutral particles in atomic nuclei.

Up Quarks

Quarks with a charge of +2/3.

Down Quarks

Quarks with a charge of -1/3.

Baryons

Hadrons made up of three quarks.

Mesons

Hadrons made of quark-antiquark pairs.

Anti-baryons

Hadrons made up of three anti-quarks.

Anti-mesons

Hadrons made of anti-quark and quark pairs.

Beta Minus Decay

Neutron converts to proton, emitting electron.

Beta Plus Decay

Proton converts to neutron, emitting positron.

Charge Conservation

Total charge remains constant in reactions.

Quark Model

Framework describing particle composition with quarks.

Δ Baryon

Baryon with a charge of +2.

Electron Neutrino

Neutral particle emitted during beta decay.

Positron

Antimatter counterpart of an electron.

Nucleon Number

Total number of protons and neutrons.

Quark-Antiquark Pair

Combination of a quark and its corresponding antiquark.

Particle Accelerator

Device that accelerates particles for experiments.

Quark Charge Calculation

Sum of quark charges determines particle charge.

Neutron Charge

Charge of a neutron is zero.

Proton Charge

Charge of a proton is +1.