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Chapter 11: Problem 4

Distinguish between elementary particles and antiparticles. Describe their interactions.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Elementary particles are the fundamental particles which include quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons. Antiparticles are counterparts to these particles, but with opposite charges. Particles and antiparticles interact via fundamental forces mediated by force carriers. When a particle and its antiparticle encounter each other, they annihilate to produce energy.

Step by step solution

01

Identifying Elementary Particles

Elementary particles are particles that are not composed of other particles. They include: quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons. Quarks combine to form hadrons (like protons and neutrons); leptons include electrons, muons, and neutrinos; gauge bosons (photon, W and Z bosons, and gluon) are force carrier particles. Each of these types exhibits specific properties like mass, charge, and spin.
02

Identifying Antiparticles

Antiparticles are counterparts to elementary particles, characterized by the same mass, lifetime, and spin as their corresponding particle, but with opposite electric charge (and other charges like baryon number, lepton number etc). For example, the antiparticle of an electron (which has a negative charge) is a positron (with a positive charge).
03

Describing Interactions

Particles interact via the fundamental forces of nature - gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear. The force carriers mentioned in Step 1 are responsible for these interactions. For instance, photons enable electromagnetic interactions, W and Z Bosons enable weak nuclear interactions, while gluons are responsible for strong nuclear interactions. The gravitational interaction, though not fully understood, is theorized to be caused by a particle called the 'graviton'. When a particle and its corresponding antiparticle come in proximity, they annihilate each other, producing energy. This is a defining interaction involving particles and antiparticles.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

(a) What is the approximate force of gravity on a 70-kg person due to the Andromeda Galaxy, assuming its total mass is \(10^{13}\) that of our Sun and acts like a single mass 0.613 Mpc away? (b) What is the ratio of this force to the person's weight? Note that Andromeda is the closest large galaxy.

The core of a star collapses during a supernova, forming a neutron star. Angular momentum of the core is conserved, so the neutron star spins rapidly. If the initial core radius is \(5.0 \times 10^{5} \mathrm{km}\) and it collapses to \(10.0 \mathrm{km}\), find the neutron star's angular velocity in revolutions per second, given the core's angular velocity was originally 1 revolution per 30.0 days.

Each of the following reactions is missing a single particle. Identify the missing particle for each reaction. (a) \(\mathrm{p}+\overline{\mathrm{p}} \rightarrow \mathrm{n}+?\) (b) \(\mathrm{p}+\mathrm{p} \rightarrow \mathrm{p}+\Lambda^{0}+?\) (c) \(\pi^{?}+p \rightarrow \Sigma^{-}+?\) (d) \(\mathrm{K}^{-}+\mathrm{n} \rightarrow \Lambda^{0}+?\) (e) \(\tau^{+} \rightarrow \mathrm{e}^{+}+v_{\mathrm{e}}+?\) (f) \(\bar{v}_{\mathrm{e}}+\mathrm{p} \rightarrow \mathrm{n}+?\)

Why might the detection of particle interaction that violates an established particle conservation law be considered a good thing for a scientist?

What are the four fundamental forces? Briefly describe them.
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