A brief guide to the particles within the Standard Model (Science)

The standard model of the universe is concerned with the particles and forces within our universe and how they interact with each other – and how the forces are carried.

Initially Greek philosophers such as Democritus proposed that the world could have been made of tiny atoms which made up everything.

This was found to be true; but it wasn’t the end. Then using such experiments as Rutherfords gold scattering experiment we deduced that there are 3 types of particle within the Atom; Electrons, Protons and Neutrons.

Lately due to the recent steps forward in high-energy physics we have been able to detect even small particles. These particles are found within the protons and neutrons, or in other particles made in other interactions (or on there own).

“Quarks” are the smallest known particles known to us at the moment. Initially we started to know about the Up and Down quarks found in protons and neutrons; but after finding more particles and observing many more reactions at higher energies we found 2 heavier quarks “Charm” and “Strange”. These particles are much more massive than the up and down quarks; and this pattern is continued when we found the Top and Bottom quarks with the Top quark being more massive than a whole proton (which is amazing considering the top quark is a fundamental particle and the proton is made of 3 “uud”)

Leptons are also included within the standard model; the simplest lepton is an Electron and this also has a Electron Neutrino aswell. However heavier versions of the electron have been found to match the groups of quarks we found before. These are called Muon and Tau (they also have corresponding Neutrinos).

Gauge Bosons or force carriers are commonly known for carrying forces between molecules and are found in the stage between when a particle is turning into another particle. The 4 bosons are photons (electromagnetic), gluons (strong) and z & w bosons (Weak). These bosons as you can see match up with the forces we know in our universe.

But where is gravity? You may ask. Well unfortunately the standard model doesn’t account for gravity – it is one of it’s major flaws. However there are theory that we should find graviton particles which carry the force of gravity like the other bosons do.

The final thing I will mention is the Higgs Boson.

This is the most recent significant finding in physics and is extremely exciting. It proposes that the higgs boson is the particle which gives particles mass and opens up a whole new set of questions for us to ponder over and experiment on.

So that’s a basic overview of the standard model’s particles!

Have a great day :D 

p.s remember when you say more “massive” or more “energy” it means the same thing as E = mc^2 so a particle with more energy is heavier and vice versa.