What are the names of the types of sub-atomic particles?
1 Answer
These are the names of types of sub-atomic particle.
Explanation:
Let's start with fermions and bosons.
Fermions are particles which obey the Fermi-Dirac statistics. They also obey the Pauli exclusion principle which prohibits two particles being in the same quantum state. They have a half integer spin.
Bosons are particles which obey the Bose-Einstein statistics. They has integral spin and can occupy the same quantum state. An example of many particles in the same state is the Bose-Einstein condensate.
Leptons are the electron, muon, tauon, the electron neutrino, muon neutrino and tauon neutrino and their anti-particles. All leptons are also fermions.
Quarks are fundamental particles which are also fermions. They come in 6 flavours: up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom.
Mesons are unstable particles consisting of a quark bound to an anti-quark. There is a meson associated with every possible combination of quark and anti-quark. All mesons are bosons.
Baryons are composite particles such as a protons or neutrons. They consist of three quarks or antiquarks. All baryons are fermions.
Atomic nuclei are also either fermions or bosons depending on haw many nucleons (protons and neutrons) they contain. Nuclei with an odd number of nucleons are fermions, nuclei with an even number of nucleons are bosons.
