Sub-atomic particles

Introduction

Subatomic particles when considered in physics and chemistry refers to  the smaller particles which makes up the  nucleons and atoms.  Two types of subatomic particles are present in nature. The first one is the elementary particles, which are not composed of other particles, and composite particles. Particle physics and nuclear physics make a study on these particles their interactions. This term describes the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular scales of quantum mechanics. According to uncertainty principle it has been concluded that analyzing of particles at different scales will require a statistical approach.

Types of subatomic particles

Elementary particles

Elementary particles present in the Standard Model include

• Six "flavors" of quarks: up, down, bottom, top, strange, and charm;
• Six types of leptons are present namely electron, electron neutrino,  tau, tau   neutrino, muon, muon neutrino,;
• Twelve gauge bosons (force carriers) are present namely the three W and Z bosons of the weak force, the photon of electromagnetism, and the eight gluons of the strong force.

Composite particles

The bounded states of two or more elementary particles form a composite particle. For instance, two up quarks and one down quark constitute a proton, while two neutrons and two protons make up the atomic nucleus of helium-4. The composite particles consist of all hadrons, a group composed of baryons (e.g., protons and neutrons) and mesons (e.g., pions and kaons). Hundreds of subatomic particles are known till date. The cosmic rays interacting with matter produces the majority of sub atomic particles or they are produced in particle accelerators by scattering processes.

Energy of subatomic particles

According to Einstein’s hypothesis, matter and energy are analogous. Matter can be expressed in terms of energy and vice-versa is also possible. Energy can be transferred by only two types of mechanisms which are known as waves and particles. Light can be expressed both as particles and waves. This type of paradox is termed as Wave-particle Duality Paradox. It has been established that all particles also have an associated wave nature. This is true for both elementary and compound particles. Few laws have been derived which explain how particles collide and interact.