Fundamental Particles (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Physics): Flashcards
Exam code: 9702
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Define fundamental particle.
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Cards in this collection (26)
Define fundamental particle.
A fundamental particle is a particle that is not made up of any other particles.
What are the six flavours of quark?
Up
Down
Charm
Strange
Top
Bottom
Define hadron.
A hadron is any particle made up of quarks.
What are the six leptons?
Electron
Electron neutrino
Muon
Muon neutrino
Tau
Tau neutrino
What are the charge and mass of a neutrino?
A neutrino has no charge and negligible mass.
True or False?
Leptons interact via the strong force.
False.
Leptons interact via the weak interaction, the electromagnetic force and the gravitational force, but they do not interact via the strong force.
Quarks have never been observed alone; they exist only in pairs or groups of ..........
Quarks have never been observed alone; they exist only in pairs or groups of three.
Define anti-quark.
An anti-quark is the antiparticle of a quark; it is identical to the quark except with the opposite relative charge.
What are the relative charges of an up quark and a down quark?
Up quark: +⅔ e
Down quark: −⅓ e
How is the charge of a hadron determined?
The charge of a hadron is the sum of the charges of its constituent quarks.
A proton has quark composition uud, giving it a total charge of ..........
A proton has quark composition uud, giving it a total charge of +1*e*.
What replaces quarks in the composition of anti-protons and anti-neutrons?
Anti-protons and anti-neutrons are made up of anti-quarks instead of quarks.
True or False?
The charge of a hadron depends only on the number of quarks it contains, not on which flavours they are.
False.
The charge of a hadron depends on the sum of the charges of its specific quarks, and different flavours carry different relative charges.
Define baryon.
A baryon is a hadron made up of three quarks.
Define meson.
A meson is a hadron made up of a quark and anti-quark pair.
What is the quark composition of a proton?
A proton is made up of two up quarks and one down quark (uud).
What is the quark composition of a neutron?
A neutron is made up of two down quarks and one up quark (udd).
What is the quark composition of an anti-baryon?
An anti-baryon is made up of three anti-quarks.
True or False?
A baryon can be made up of a mixture of quarks and anti-quarks.
False.
A baryon is made up of either all quarks or all anti-quarks — combinations of quarks and anti-quarks do not exist in a baryon.
All baryons and mesons have .......... charges, for example +1e or −2e.
All baryons and mesons have integer (whole number) charges, for example +1e or −2e.
Which fundamental interaction is responsible for beta decay?
Beta decay occurs via the weak interaction.
Which quark transformation occurs in β- decay?
In β- decay, a down quark turns into an up quark, changing a neutron into a proton.
Which quark transformation occurs in β+ decay?
In β+ decay, an up quark turns into a down quark, changing a proton into a neutron.
In β- decay, a neutron turns into a proton, emitting an electron and an ..........
In β- decay, a neutron turns into a proton, emitting an electron and an anti-electron neutrino.
True or False?
Beta decay changes the number of quarks in a nucleon.
False.
Beta decay involves a change in the flavour of one quark (down to up, or up to down), not the number of quarks — the nucleon still contains three quarks.
Which particles are emitted in β+ decay?
β+ decay emits a positron and an electron neutrino.
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