15.5 Particle Physics

• Which quantum field theory explains the confinement of quarks and the interactions of the strong force?

  QCD
• The electromagnetic force acts between particles with electric charge and is mediated by the photon.
• The weak force is mediated by the W and Z bosons and has a short range.


  True
• What type of processes is the weak force responsible for?

  Radioactive decay
• What is the purpose of particle accelerators in particle physics experiments?

  Recreate early universe conditions
• Bubble chambers produce visible tracks when charged particles pass through.
• Scattering experiments are used to probe the internal structure of atoms and uncover the existence of quarks.

  True
• Which particle accelerator at CERN is the world's largest and most powerful?

  Large Hadron Collider
• What fundamental particle, discovered at the LHC, helps explain the origin of mass in the universe?

  Higgs boson
• Dark matter, which makes up about 85% of the universe's total mass, is not accounted for in the Standard Model.
• The Standard Model cannot fully explain why the universe contains more matter than antimatter.


  True
• What property of neutrinos contradicts the Standard Model's prediction?

  Mass
• Physicists hope to find a "theory of everything" that can unify the four fundamental forces into a single framework.
• Which fundamental force is incompatible with the Standard Model?

  Gravity
• Gluons are the force carrier particles of the strong force.


  True
• What property do quarks and gluons possess that determines their interaction via the strong force?

  Color charge
• Match the property with the correct force:

  Electric charge ↔️ Electromagnetism

  Color charge ↔️ QCD (Strong Force)
• The strong force has an infinite range.

  False
• What is the name of the theory that describes electromagnetism?

  Maxwell's equations
• The electromagnetic force is mediated by the photon
• The weak force has a relative strength of 10^-6 and a short range.


  True
• What does particle physics study?

  Fundamental constituents of matter
• There are four fundamental forces in particle physics.


  True
• Which fundamental force affects charged particles?

  Electromagnetic
• The weak force has an infinite range.

  False
• The gravitational force affects all particles with mass
• What does the strong force bind together?

  Quarks
• The weak force is responsible for certain radioactive decays.

  True
• What is the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

  A theory of fundamental particles and forces
• The carrier particle for the electromagnetic force is the photon
• W and Z bosons are the carrier particles for the weak force.


  True
• Order the fundamental forces by their relative strength from strongest to weakest.

  1️⃣ Strong

  2️⃣ Electromagnetic

  3️⃣ Weak

  4️⃣ Gravitational
• The Standard Model of Particle Physics classifies particles into fermions and bosons
• The strong force has an infinite range.

  False
• Match the force with its carrier particle:

  Electromagnetic ↔️ Photon

  Weak ↔️ W and Z Bosons

  Strong ↔️ Gluon
• What type of hadron is composed of three quarks?

  Baryon
• Mesons are composed of a quark-antiquark pair
• Baryons have a baryon number of 0.

  False
• Which baryon is found in the nucleus of an atom?

  Proton
• Match the force with its relative strength and range:

  Electromagnetic ↔️ 1, Infinite

  Weak ↔️ 10^-6, Short

  Strong ↔️ 1, Short

  Gravitational ↔️ 10^-39, Infinite