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Specific charge
The specific charge is the charge per unit mass for a
particle. It is calculated using the equation:
It can be calculated for particles such as the proton, or for
ions, such as the Mg
2+
ion.
For example, the proton:
charge (C)
mass (kg)
specific charge =
The units are coulombs per kilogram (C kg
-1
)
specific charge =
1.60 10
-19
1.67 10
-27
= 9.58 10
7
C kg
-1
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Representing atoms
A nucleon is a proton or a neutron, so the nucleon number
of an atom is the number of protons plus the number of
neutrons in the nucleus. It is represented by the symbol A.
An atom can be
represented by its
chemical symbol,
nucleon number and
atomic number as
shown.
The number of protons in an atom is known as the atomic
number or proton number and is represented by the symbol
Z. This number defines the element to which the atom belongs.
nucleon
number (A)
atomic
number (Z)
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Isotopes
atomic number
is the same
nucleon number
is different
Isotopes are atoms of the same element that contain different
numbers of neutrons.
The different masses of the atoms means that the physical
properties of isotopes are slightly different.
carbon-12 carbon-13
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What makes a nucleus stable?
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Light as a particle
Light can be thought of as an electromagnetic wave. Like all
electromagnetic waves, light travels at a constant speed, c, in
a vacuum.
l is wavelength
h is the Planck constant
h = 6.63 10
-34
J s
Light can also be thought of as a particle. The energy of the
electromagnetic wave is emitted in short bursts called photons.
l =
c
f
photon energy, E = hf
=
hc
l
f is the frequency
c is the speed of light
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The Einstein equation
When using the mass and energy of particles, it is important to
specify rest mass and minimum energy. This is because the
mass of a particle increases as it reaches speeds close to the
speed of light, at which a particle would have infinite mass!
Einsteins famous equation
E = mc
2
states the relationship
between the rest mass of a particle or
antiparticle and its minimum energy.
The energy of a particle or an
antiparticle is usually expressed in
electron volts (eV) or mega electron
volts (MeV).
1 eV = 1.6 10
-19
J
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Introduction to antimatter
For every particle there is a corresponding antiparticle.
Antimatter is made up of antiparticles in the same way that
matter is made up of particles.
One of the biggest problems for physics is understanding why
most of the observable universe seems to be made up of
matter rather than antimatter.
Antimatter was predicted
in 1928 by Paul Dirac. In
1932 Carl Anderson
discovered the first
antiparticle. It was called
the positron and is the
antiparticle of the electron.
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The neutrino
Neutrinos and their
antiparticles, antineutrinos,
come in three different types,
two of which are: electron
neutrinos n
e
and n
e
and
muon neutrinos n
m
and n
m
.
Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel close to light
speed. They have an extremely small (but non-zero) mass and
are uncharged.
They are created by
radioactive decay or nuclear
reactions in the Sun.
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Particles and antiparticles
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Four fundamental forces
A fundamental force is one that cannot be explained in terms
of the action of other forces.
There are four fundamental forces:
Force Felt by
gravitation
electromagnetic force
weak force
strong force
any particle with mass
any charged particle
quarks
any particle
It is the weak force that is responsible for turning a neutron into
a proton in b

decay and a proton into a neutron in b


+
decay.
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Exchange particles and the W boson
The exchange particle for the electromagnetic force is the
virtual photon. The weak
force is mediated by a particle
called a W boson. W bosons:
have a non-zero rest mass
have a very short range
(no more than 0.001 fm)
are positively or negatively
charged (W
+
or W

).
Forces between particles are thought to be mediated by the
exchange of other particles between them. Some of these
particles are called virtual particles because they cannot be
detected directly.
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Feynman diagrams
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Mesons and strangeness
Mesons come in many different varieties. Two of them are
pi mesons (pions) and K mesons (kaons).
K mesons have some unusual properties that led to them
being called strange particles.
Both can be positively or negatively-charged or neutral. The
charge is represented by a superscript number after the
symbol for the meson. The symbols for the pi and K mesons
are: p
+
, p

, p
0
, K
+
, K

, K
0
.
Pi mesons are not strange particles, so have a strangeness
number of 0.
Strangeness is a property of particles, with strange particles
like K mesons being assigned a strangeness number of +1.
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Particle interactions
The weak force acts between all quarks (and therefore
between all hadrons) and leptons.
Particles
Force
weak electromagnetic strong
quarks
charged leptons
uncharged leptons
The electromagnetic force acts between all charged
particles.
The strong force acts between all quarks (and therefore
all hadrons).
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Decay into protons
Protons are the only stable baryons. The other baryons will
eventually decay into them.
For example, a neutron will decay into a proton according to:
n p + e

+ n
or equivalently
n p + b

+ n
This process is b

radioactive
decay, so the Feynman diagram is
the same as for that process. The
decay proceeds by the exchange
of a W

boson.
n
p
W

b

n
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Can you classify particles?
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Particles and interactions: testing
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Quarks
Quarks, like leptons, are fundamental particles. They are not
thought to be composed of any smaller particles.
Hadrons, such as protons and neutrons, are composed of
quarks.
Quarks and their antiparticles, antiquarks, come in several
types, called flavours:
up
down
strange
charm
top
bottom
flavour quark symbol antiquark symbol
u
d
s
c
t
b
u
d
s
c
t
b
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Properties of quarks
Quarks and antiquarks have the properties charge and
strangeness (shown below for three flavours of quarks).
quark antiquark
up down strange up down strange
charge
strangeness
0 0 1 0 0 +1
2
3
+
1
3

1
3

2
3
+
1
3
+
1
3
Adding up the charge or strangeness for the quarks composing
a hadron gives the charge or strangeness of that hadron.
For example a hadron composed of two up quarks and a down
quark would have charge 2/3 + 2/3 1/3 = +1 and
strangeness 0.
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Build a particle 1: mesons
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Build a particle 2: baryons
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To make a neutron turn into a proton, as in b

decay, a down
quark must turn into an up quark. To make a proton turn into
a neutron, as in b
+
decay, an up quark must turn into a
down quark.
Beta decay revisited
W

b

d
n
e
u
W
+
u
n
e
d
b
+
b
+
decay
The versions of the b decay Feynman diagrams here show
these processes. They take place by the weak force.
b

decay
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Conservation rules
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Quark combinations: testing
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Glossary

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