Subatomic Particle
Contents
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
Meaning
A subatomic particle is any particle smaller than an atom.
About Subatomic Particles
References
AQA
- Subatomic particles, page 111, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Physics, CGP, AQA
- Subatomic particles, page 123, GCSE Physics; The Complete 9-1 Course for AQA, CGP, AQA
- Sub-atomic particles, pages 13-17, GCSE Chemistry; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA
Edexcel
- Subatomic particles, page 18, GCSE Chemistry, Pearson, Edexcel
- Subatomic particles, page 90, GCSE Physics, Pearson Edexcel
OCR
Key Stage 5
Meaning
A subatomic particle is any particle smaller than an atom.
About Subatomic Particles
- Subatomic particles include all fundamental particles as well as some other low mass particles made from a combination of fundamental particles.
- Some subatomic particles you should know are:
- 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 particle 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.
- Hadrons - Subatomic particles made of quarks.
- Bosons - Subatomic particles which mediate the fundamental interactions.
- Photon - A fundamental particle and a type of boson which mediates the electromagnetic interaction.
- W-boson - A type of boson, with mass, which carries charge and mediates the weak nuclear interaction over distances smaller than the diameter of a proton.
- Z-boson - A type of boson, with mass, which carries no charge and mediates the weak nuclear interaction over distances smaller than the diameter of a proton.
- Leptons - A group of fundamental particles
- NB: The leptons and baryons all have anti-particle counterparts with the same mass but opposite charge.