What is an example of a subatomic particle?

Answer 1

There are several subatomic particles. In general the term refers to the three main parts of an atom - the proton, the neutron, and the electron. But the proton and neutron are made up of even smaller particles called quarks (there are 6 of those!) and then there are all sorts of gluons and mesons... but I think the basic answer is the one that you want. Stick with proton, electron, and neutron.

Answer 2

Subatomic particles are all fermions, or particles that make up regular matter and cannot occupy the same state at the same time.

In an atom, we find leptons, such as the electron and electron neutrino, and we also find baryons, such as the proton and neutron. Baryons are in turn made up of three quarks; the ones found in nature are called Up and down (charges +2/3 and -1/3, respectively, in terms of a proton's charge).

Leptons and quarks are fundamental particles; that is, they are the most basic building blocks. There are three generations or flavors fundamental particles with two particles occupying one generation. Counting their antiparticle counterparts, there are a total of 24 fundamental particles. If we account for the color charge of quarks (red, blue, yellow) and the anticolor charge (found only in antiparticles), then this count is raised to 84 different types of fundamental particles. Quarks can be combined in many different ways to make up hundreds of types of various baryons (three quarks or three antiquarks).

There are also force carrier particles, which are called bosons. They can occupy the same quantum state (as opposed to fermions); oddly enough, particles composed of two quarks are called mesons and are classified as bosons. The definition of a boson is a particle that has an integer spin (i.e. 0,1,2,...) whereas a fermion is a particle of a half integer spin (i.e. 1/2, 3/2, 5/2,...)

The four forces of nature are as follows: gravity (graviton), electromagnetic (photon), weak (mediates the weak nuclear force and particle decay; W+, W-, Z0), and the strong (the fundamental strong force is responsible for binding quarks and is made up of 8 types of color charged gluons; the residual strong force is responsible for holding baryons together in the nucleus and is made up of mesons, typically pi+,-,0; however, we will not count this since it is not fundamental.) The massless bosons (graviton and photon) have an unlimited range at the cost of a weaker force while the rest of the particles with mass have a strong but very limited range; for example, the residual strong force only has a range of 10-15 M and is why all elements above lead are unstable, as their atomic radii exceed that critical value. Although their forces never truly equal zero, it becomes so insignificant beyond a certain point that there is no point in accounting for them in any calculations.

Our count of fundamental bosons is 13, with a total count of 97 fundamental particles. There is one additional boson, the Higgs Boson, that does not transmit a force; however, it does explain why matter has mass and spontaneous symmetry breaking. It was observed in June of 2012 and, as of 4/20/13, it is most likely the Higgs Boson. Assuming that our results are valid, we have a new total of 98 fundamental particles.

Note: All fundamental bosons are their own antiparticles with the exception of the W+ and W-, which are antiparticles to each other.

Answer 3

There are three subatomic particles: Proton, Nuetron, Electron.