Fundamental particles are the basic building blocks of matter in particle physics. They are not made up of smaller components and are classified into two main categories: fermions and bosons.
Fundamental particles are the basic building blocks of matter in particle physics. They are not made up of smaller components and are classified into two main categories: fermions and bosons.
Fermions include quarks and leptons. Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons, which make up atomic nuclei. There are six types of quarks: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom. Leptons include electrons, muons, tau particles, and their corresponding neutrinos. Electrons are crucial for chemical bonding and electricity.
Bosons, on the other hand, are force carriers that mediate interactions between fermions. The most well-known boson is the photon, which carries the electromagnetic force. Other important bosons include the W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak nuclear force, and the gluon, responsible for the strong nuclear force. The Higgs boson, discovered in 2012, is associated with the mechanism that gives mass to other particles.
Together, these fundamental particles and their interactions form the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes how the universe operates at the smallest scales.
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