Fermion
Key Stage 5
Meaning
Fermions are a group of subatomic particles which are not able to exist in the same place at the same time as one another.
NB: This definition is loose and inaccurate, but sufficient at this stage. It is more accurate to state that they are 'half-integer spin' and unable to have the same 'quantum state' as one another.
About Fermions
- Subatomic particles are divided into two major categories; fermions and bosons. Bosons, in contrast to fermions, can exist in the same place at the same time as one another.
- The fermions include:
- Leptons - A group of fundamental particles
- Electron - A type of lepton with a mass of 9.11x10-31kg and a charge of -1.60x10-19 Coulombs.
- Muon - A type of lepton often referred to as a 'heavy electron' same charge as an electron (-1.60x10-19 Coulombs) but a mass 206 times the mass of an electron.
- Neutrino - A type of lepton with zero charge and negligible mass.
- Quarks - A group of subatomic particles believed to be fundamental but have never been observed on their own. They always exists in either a triplet of quarks or a quark-antiquark pair. (NB: A quark-antiquark pair known as a meson is a type of boson.)
- Hadrons - Subatomic particles made of quarks.
- Leptons - A group of fundamental particles