elementary particle

(noun)

a particle not known to have any substructure

Related Terms

Examples of elementary particle in the following topics:

  • Photon Interactions and Pair Production

    • Pair production refers to the creation of an elementary particle and its antiparticle, usually when a photon interacts with a nucleus.
    • Below is an illustration of pair production, which refers to the creation of an elementary particle and its antiparticle, usually when a photon interacts with a nucleus.
    • This is allowed, provided there is enough energy available to create the pair (i.e., the total rest mass energy of the two particles) and that the situation allows both energy and momentum to be conserved.

  • Energy, Mass, and Momentum of Photon

    • A photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of light, which carries momentum and energy.
    • A photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of light.
    • A photon can also be emitted when a particle and its corresponding antiparticle are annihilated.
    • Momentum of photon: According to the theory of Special Relativity, energy and momentum (p) of a particle with rest mass m has the following relationship: $E^2 = (mc^2)^2+p^2c^2$, where c is the speed of light.

  • The Electron-Volt

    • The electron volt is a unit of energy useful in the physics of elementary charges and electricity.
    • The electron volt, symbolized as eV and sometimes written as electronvolt, is a unit of energy useful in the physics of elementary charges and electricity.
    • As such, it is equal to the product of one volt (1 J/C) and one elementary charge, giving it a value in joules approximately equal to 1.602×10-19 J.
    • Scientists working with electrostatic particle accelerators commonly used the relationship between energy (E), charge (q), and potential difference (V) in their work:
    • In particle physics, the equation E=mc2 can be rearranged to solve for mass:

  • Static Electricity, Charge, and the Conservation of Charge

    • In both instances, charged particles will experience a force when in the presence of other charged matter.
    • The SI unit for charge is the Coulomb (C), which is approximately equal to $6.24\times 10^{18}$ elementary charges.
    • (An elementary charge is the magnitude of charge of a proton or electron. )
    • Electric charge is carried by subatomic particles such as electrons and protons, which can be created and destroyed.
    • For example, when particles are destroyed, equal numbers of positive and negative charges are destroyed, keeping the net amount of charge unchanged.

  • The Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment

    • Performed by Robert Millikan and Harvey Fletcher in 1911, the experiment was designed to determine the charge of a single electron, otherwise known as the elementary electric charge.
    • Adjusting the voltage perfectly, Millikan was able to balance the force of gravity (which was exerted downward) with the force of the electric field on the charged particles (which was exerted upward), causing the oil droplets to be suspended in mid-air.
    • Millikan then calculated the charge on particles suspended in mid-air.
    • Thus, it was concluded that the elementary electric charge was 1.5924(17)×10−19 C.
    • The Oil-Drop Experiment was tremendously influential at the time, not only for determining the charge of an electron, but for helping prove the existence of particles smaller than atoms.

  • Introduction to Elementary operations and Gaussian Elimination

    • If you have a matrix that can be derived from another matrix by a sequence of elementary operations, then the two matrices are said to be row or column equivalent.
    • The first is the application of elementary operations to try to put the matrix in row-reduced form; i.e., making zero all the elements below the main diagonal (and normalizing the diagonal elements to 1).

  • Matter Exists in Space and Time

    • The principle topics covered in elementary mechanics are: fundamental abstracts, the Newtonian system, position and velocity, and Newton's second law.
    • This model of mass is called the BODY (point mass or particle).

  • Constant Velocity Produces a Straight-Line

    • There are many cases where a particle may experience no net force.
    • Or there could be two or more forces on the particle that are balanced such that the net force is zero.
    • If the net force on a particle is zero, then the acceleration is necessarily zero from Newton's second law: F=ma.
    • In this case a charged particle can continue with straight-line motion even in a strong magnetic field.
    • Identify conditions required for the particle to move in a straight line in the magnetic field

  • Particle-Wave Duality

    • Wave–particle duality postulates that all physical entities exhibit both wave and particle properties.
    • Wave–particle duality postulates that all physical entities exhibit both wave and particle properties.
    • From a classical physics point of view, particles and waves are distinct concepts.
    • They are mutually exclusive, in the sense that a particle doesn't exhibit wave-like properties and vice versa.
    • Why then is it that physicists believe in wave-particle duality?

  • Diffusion

    • Diffusion is the movement of particles from regions of high concentration towards regions of lower concentration.
    • Diffusion is the movement of particles move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until equilibrium is reached .
    • Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all (liquid or gas) particles at temperatures above absolute zero.
    • The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size (mass) of the particles.
    • Particles moving from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration.