- The matter is anything that has mass and takes up space (volume). It made all matter up of atoms. The atom has a nucleus containing particles of positive charge (protons) and particles of neutral charge (neutrons). Surrounding the nucleus of an atom are shells of electrons – small negatively charged particles.
- Prions: In particle physics, prions are point particles conceived as subcomponents of quarks and leptons.
- Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. Quarks make up protons and neutrons, which make up an atom’s nucleus. Each proton and each neutron contain three quarks. A quark is a fast-moving point of energy. There are several varieties of quarks. They composed protons and neutrons of two types: up quarks and down quarks.
- Lepton: A lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main leptons exist, charged leptons (also known as the electron-like leptons or muons) and neutral leptons (better known as neutrinos).
- Within the Standard Model, there are several classes of particles. The quarks have six types, of which there are three varieties in each (dubbed “colors,” red, green, and blue, giving rise to quantum chromo dynamics). There are six different types of leptons. Of these six leptons, there are three charged particles: the electron, muon, and tau. The neutrinos comprise the other three leptons, and for each neutrino, there is a corresponding member from the different set of three leptons. There are also bosons, including the photons, W+, W−, and Z bosons; gluons, and the Higgs boson; and an open space left for the graviton. Almost all of these particles come in “left-handed” and “right-handed” versions (see chirality). The quarks, leptons, and W bosons all have antiparticles with an opposite electric charge.
- The kinetic and potential energy of atoms results from the motion of electrons. When electrons are excited, they move to a higher energy orbital farther away from the atom. The further the orbital is from the nucleus, the higher the energy level’s potential energy.
- Stable. Most atoms are stable.
- Isotopes. Every atom is a chemical element, like hydrogen, iron, or chlorine.
- Radioactive. Some atoms have too many neutrons in the nucleus, which makes them unstable. Ions. Antimatter.
- They made protons of fundamental particles called quarks and gluons. A proton contains three quarks and three streams of gluons. Two of the quarks are called up quarks, and the third quark is called a down quark.
- To break this down a bit, it made light of high-energy photons. When high-energy photons go through strong electric fields, they lose enough radiation that they become gamma rays and create electron-positron pairs, thus creating a new state of matter.
