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Particle Physics
Relatively recent experimental results have confirmed what philosophers throughout history had theorized all along; that all matter is made up of elementary particles. Those curious about this cutting-edge field of physics known as particle physics should post their questions here, including those about fundamental particles, fundamental forces, Grand Unified Theories, and the extraordinary devices that have been or need to be engineered to research them.
3,842 Questions
What is a simple explanation of alpha and beta decay?
Alpha decay:- It is a process of disintegration of an element which involves formation of a new element by loosing an alpha particle(He2+).
Example:-
84Po214 --------->82Pb210 + 2He4 + Q
Where subscripts denote atomic number, Superscripts denote atomic mass and Q is the energy released in the process.
Beta Decay:- It is also a process of disintegration but the difference from alpha decay lies in the fact that an electron is given out in the process rather than alpha particle.
Example:-
0n1 ----->1p1 + -1e0 + anti-neutrino.
Where n is neutron, p is proton, e is electron, subscripts are atomic charge and and superscripts are atomic mass.
What atom is the only atom that has neutrons?
Actually, all atoms have neutrons except for one, and that is the normal hydrogen atom, which is only comprised of a single proton and electron.
Everything is made up of atoms and atoms contain electrons. Therefore I suppose that technically yes you do eat electrons as everything you eat has electrons in it.
What is the makeup of the subatomic particles of oxygen?
The atomic number of oxygen is 8. Thus, electrically neutral oxygen has 8 protons and 8 electrons. Since the most common isotope of oxygen is 16O, there are 16 - 8 = 8 neutrons in an atom of oxygen.
Why did the neutrino take so long to discover?
Lack of lab equipment, Cowan Reines proved the existence of the neutrino in 1956 but to do that they needed a nuclear reactor as a source of a neutrino flux
What is the difference in Chaos theory and String theory?
Chaos theory basically says that there are situations where you can't predict what's going to happen next. Like duh. Scientists and engineers have known all along that there are plenty of equations that have poles and zeroes-- places where the equation blows up or divides by zero, making the results unpredictable. There are also equations with positive feedback, where things are okay for a while but there are points, like balancing a ball at the top of a hill, where the slightest influence can drive it downhill in any direction.
Not a terribly useful theory IMHO-- but an useful reminder that equations have their limitations.
String theory I don't understand at all, but I'm not alone. Apparently the math is quite beautiful and somehow explains other things, somehow. But they've been working on it for like 20 years now, with no great advances, so maybe it's just a tantalyzing dead-end. Ideally you'd get some useful predictions or numbers out of string theory, but no soap so far it seems. Ideally someone will notice that the 23rd dimension of one string crossed with the 19th of another gives a number that's exactly equal to the mass of the electron, now THAT would be a useful prediction.
Bosons are subatomic particles which have integer spin and obey Bose-Einstein statistics. There can be more than one boson at a given point in space with the same quantum state. Bosons are the force carriers. Known bosons are the photon (light), the gluon (strong force), the neutral weak force carrier, and the charged weak force carrier.
Where did positrons come from?
Where did they come from? They weren't invented they've always been around the positron is a fundamental part of this universe, it is the antiparticle to the electron and is found in many reactions throughout the universe.
If you mean how are they created? they can be created in many ways but a common method is a nuclear reaction called a 'Beta Positive Decay' where a Proton decays into a Neutron Positron and neutrino
P --> n + e(+) + v
Is the static discharge a flow of electrons?
Static discharge is the spark associated with static electricity that is caused by electrostatic discharge.
point particles that are bosons, they have no internal structure.
Which three of the four forces in nature have been unified?
Weak force, strong force, and electromagnetic force. The other one is gravity.
Well, although I don't think they have managed to construct one yet, i do know what they are intending to do...
this bomb contains a sealed container with no matter inside, just anti matter inside a vacuum, the antimatter hovers above an electronic flow of energy so the antimatter doesn't fall and hit one of the walls of the container. keep in mind the antimatter is a small speck,
now, when the bomb is set to go off, this electron flow stops and the antimatter is let to fall to the bottom of the container where in comes in contact with matter, they go through a process called annihilation where the both matters convert into a mass amount of energy, which is the deadly huge radiant explosion that will occur.
The effect would be similar to an atomic bomb put the explosion would be much larger for the amount of material and there would be little to no radioactive fallout. Such a device would release more than three times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb for each gram of antimatter present.
What device is used to study tracks left by subatomic particles?
A particle detector is used to study tracks left by subatomic particles. These detectors can be based on various technologies such as silicon detectors, scintillation detectors, or cloud chambers. They help in measuring the properties of particles such as charge, energy, and momentum.
This is an area of active research. Some serious theories say they might exist, but so far, none have been found.but if they exist,we will find it in BIG BANG
What are protons equavalent to?
Protons are equivalent to a couple of things, one of which you may not be aware of. First of all, they are equivalent to the nucleus of a hydrogen atom. Additionally, they are equivalent to two up quarks plus one down quark. Why? Because quarks are the fundamental particles that comprise both protons and neutrons, and the combination of quarks written above is what makes up protons.
What are electron transport chains made up of?
The majority of the energy conserved during catabolism reactions occurs near the end of the metabolic series of reactions in the electron transport chain. The electron transport or respiratory chain gets its name from the fact electrons are transported to meet up with oxygen from respiration at the end of the chain. The overall electron chain transport reaction is:
2 H+ + 2 e+ + 1/2 O2 ---> H2O + energy
Notice that 2 hydrogen ions, 2 electrons, and an oxygen molecule react to form as a product water with energy released in an exothermic reaction. This relatively straight forward reaction actually requires eight or more steps. The energy released is coupled with the formation of three ATP molecules per every use of the electron transport chain.
Link to a complete animated version of Electron Transport - Brooks-Cole
Link to: Rodney Boyer Animation of Electron Transport
Pre-Initiation of Electron Transport Chain:
The electron transport chain is initiated by the reaction of an organic metabolite (intermediate in metabolic reactions) with the coenzyme NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). This is an oxidation reaction where 2 hydrogen atoms (or 2 hydrogen ions and 2 electrons) are removed from the organic metabolite. (The organic metabolites are usually from the citric acid cycle and the oxidation of fatty acids--details in following pages.) The reaction can be represented simply where M = any metabolite.
MH2 + NAD+ -----> NADH + H+ + M: + energy
One hydrogen is removed with 2 electrons as a hydride ion (H-) while the other is removed as the positive ion (H+). Usually the metabolite is some type of alcohol which is oxidized to a ketone.
NAD+ is a coenzyme containing the B-vitamin, nicotinamide, shown on a previous page.
The purpose of the other seven steps in the electron transport chain is threefold:
1) to pass along 2H+ ions and 2e- to eventually react with oxygen;
2) to conserve energy by forming three ATP's; and
3) to regenerate the coenzymes back to their original form as oxidizing agents.Quiz: What are the initial reactants which start the electron transport chain?Answer2 hydrogen ionsand 2 electronsstart the chain.Oxygen andADP are alsoreactants.What are the final products of the chain?Answer3 ATP and awater moleculeare products.
Click for larger image
Initiation of Electron Transport Chain:
Once the NADH has been made from a metabolite in the citric acid cycle inside of the mitochondria, it interacts with the first complex 1 enzyme, known as NADH reductase. This complex 1 contains a coenzyme flavin mononucleotide (FMN) which is similar to FAD.
The sequence of events is that the NADH, plus another hydrogen ion enter the enzyme complex and pass along the 2 hydrogen ions, ultimately to an interspace in the mitochondria. These hydrogen ions, acting as a pump, are utilized by ATP synthetase to produce an ATP for every two hydrogen ions produced. Three complexes (1, 3, 4) act in this manner to produce 2 hydrogen ions each, and thus will produce 3 ATP for every use of the complete electron transport chain.
In addition, NADH passes along 2 electrons to first FMN, then to an iron-sulfur protein (FeS), and finally to coenzyme Q. The net effect of these reactions are to regenerate coenzyme NAD+. This regeneration of reactants occurs in many of the reactions so that a cycling effect occurs. The NAD+ is ready to react further with metabolites in the citric acid cycle.
Coenzyme Q, which also picks up an additional 2 hydrogen ions to make CoQH2, is soluble in the lipid membrane and can move through the membrane to come into contact with enzyme complex 3.
In summary, the very first enzyme complex in the electron transport chain is coupled with the formation of ATP. The coupled reaction may be written as:
a) MH2 + NAD+ ---> NADH + H+ + M + energy
b) ADP + P + energy ---> ATP + H2O
What is large hydrogen colider?
You probably mean Large Hadron Collider. It is a particle accelerator (biggest in the world) at CERN in Switzerland. It is designed to accelerate nuclei of heavy atoms and collide them to study high energy reactions and see if new unknown subatomic particles can be discovered. Hadrons are the class of particles including protons, neutrons, and mesons. Large refers to the size of the machine, not the size of the hadrons. The first particle they hope to find is the "Higgs Boson", which according to some new theories determines the mass of all other subatomic particles.
What are facts about the large hadron collider?
1. It is the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth
2. It cannot create a black hole
3. It cannot harm the earth
4. It was designed to detect the Higgs Boson
5. It is the forefront of physics
How many people are employed by CERN?
CERN has about 3.400 ordinary employes (as of December 2007) and 8.000 guest scientists.
To answer your question properly, a few explanations of atomic structure are in order first. An atom is made up of three main subatomic particles; a proton, a neutron, and an electron. The only exception to this rule is Hydrogen, but this is irrelevant for this discussion.
Inside of the atom is the nucleus, which contains the protons and neutrons. Neutrons carry no net electrical charge; hence they are neutral. Protons contain a positive (+) electrical charge. Finally, the electrons circle the outside of the nucleus and contain a negative (-) electrical charge. Though it is not really correct, an easy model to visualize this is to think of our sun as the nucleus and the 9 planets as electrons.
As the old saying goes, "opposites attract." This means that electrons are attracted to protons, protons are attracted to electrons, and neutrons are attracted to neither. Following this logic, electrons repel other electrons and protons repel other protons. This constant attraction and repulsion between the particles keeps an atom together.
Now, to answer your question of what causes electricity, simply put, it is electrons. There are two different types of electricity; static and dynamic. Static electricity is what we're all familiar with on a cold, dry day when we go to turn on a light switch and get zapped. The reason this happens is that there is a build up of electrons on our bodies due to the dry conditions. These electrons simply join other atoms and become "overcrowded." When we touch metal, they are rapidly released from our body in the form of a spark.
Dynamic electricity refers to all other forms that we're used to, such as what's running your computer, T.V., automobile, and cell phone. In this case, electrons actually "move" through the wires. The reason they move is similar to the reason why a ball roles down a hill. There is a difference in "heights" at each end of the wire, only in electrical terms, this is called a difference in "potential."
Think of what a battery is. There is a positive end and a negative end. But they are stationary on the battery and can never touch. However, if the two ends are connected by using a wire, electrons will have the ability to flow from negative to positive. Remember, opposites attract. What you see in the form of electricity, then, is simply the energy given up by electrons flowing through a wire because they are being attracted by protons. What happens if all of the electrons match up with all of the protons on the other side of the battery? The battery is dead.
No. No one person invented the internet, nor did any one organisation qua organisation.
The origin of the internet was the DARPANET. DARPA was the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency. Scientists and engineers working on these projects were widely spread geographically, and were in various types of organisation. Some were in obvious places like White Sands, Lockheed or Lawrence-Livermore labs; others were at MIT, Berkely, various other universities, defence contractors and government departments.
One thing they had in common was computers - fairly rare in the wide world, but they all had them. Another thing they had in common was slow communication with workers in other places. The third thing in common was they were all pretty smart. They established a network between the DARPA sites for rapid interchange of information and real time discussions. Almost all the things that are hidden behind the scenes on the internet came from DARPANET; the most obvious being the File Transfer Protocol or FTP.
The only fundamental change since then has been the development of the World-Wide-Web. This is a pretty name, but the invention was HyperText Mark-up Language, or HTML. This was due to Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist; he happened to be working at CERN at the time but HTML had nothing to do with his work there which was on elementary particles. CERN did not invent the internet or the World-Wide-Web. The internet had been operating for some years before HTML was developed, and when it was the credit goes entirely to Tim Berners-Lee.
Dan Brown wrote in his book Angels and Demons that CERN invented the internet, along with many other things, but this isn't true. CERN is a real company, but they did not invent the internet! :DCan consentration of gamma rays vaporize?
forget what the scientists say gamma rays depending on energy can be extremely hot for example a gamma ray burst at a distance of 300 light years can vaporize a planet and those gamma rays probably have temperatures well up into the the trillions if not quadrillions of degrees. So yes a high concentration of gamma rays will vaporize a human, but not just that they will vaporize whatever is surrounding and in front of it. For instance if gamma rays hit the top of the earth's atmosphere and there energy is transferred to heat those gamma rays will vaporize the ground the water or whatever they happen to hit kind of like billions of megatons of energy
