-
---------------------- 2713 - PARTICLES - how physics explains everything?
-
- The first fundamental particle was discovered in 1897. It was the electron. The photon, as a particle, was discovered in 1900 but was not named until Einstein identified it as a quantum of energy in 1905.
-
- Photons are now used to explain light and all the electric and magnetic forces. Photons even explain how the atom is held together with a positive charged nucleus and shells of negative charged electrons. Photons are the carriers of all electromagnetic energy. The same energy that holds the atoms together.
-
- In 1969 it was discovered that the positively charged proton in the nucleus of the atoms was “not” a fundamental particle. Protons and neutrons in the nucleus are made up of Quarks.
-
- There are three Quarks in each. Protons have 2 Up Quarks and 1 Down Quark giving them a net positive charge of +1. Positive charges repel each other so there was another particle called the Gluon that held the Quarks together.
-
- The Strong Nuclear Force in the nucleus of atoms is carried by these Gluons. There are also Neutrons in the nucleus of atoms. They have 2 Down Quarks and 1 Up Quark giving them a net charge of zero.
-
- However, Neutrons can decay into Protons. There is another nuclear force involved called the Weak Nuclear Force responsible for radioactive Beta decay in the nucleus of atoms.
-
- Neutrons are held together by another particle called the W-Boson. When the Neutron decays it releases a Proton, an Electron, and an Anti-Neutrino. The Weak Nuclear Force requires another fundamental particle in order to fully describe its behavior. This particle is called the Z-Boson. “Z” because at the time it was felt this must be the last particle to be discovered.
-
- The Force of Gravity needed a force carrier particle. Physics calls it the “Graviton“, but, this particle has yet to be discovered. Theory says it is there, but, Gravity is such a weak force it is difficult to detect the Graviton. The attempt is to discover Gravity Waves which could indirectly expose the Graviton particle.
-
- The Force of Gravity is a function of Mass, but, what causes Mass? Physics needs another fundamental particle. This one is called the Higgs Boson. It is the heaviest particle so far and we need a Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator in order to detect it. The LHC generates 1,000 billion electron volts of energy.
-
- It takes more energy to discover these heavier particles. But, we are getting close to explaining “Everything“. We have light, electricity, magnetism, gravity, mass, matter and anti-mater , what’s next?
-
- The following table is a history of our particle discoveries and the energy level for the particles according to E=mc^2. Mass = E / c^2. E is energy expressed in billions of electron volts (GeV), with dividing by c^2 being always assumed:
-
-
------------------- 1897 ---------- Electron -------------- 5.11 *10^-4 GeV
------------------- 1900 ---------- Gamma Ray photon ---------------- mass less
------------------- 1919 ---------- Proton ------------------------------ 932 GeV
------------------- 1932 ----------- Neutron and Anti-electron ------- 932 GeV
------------------- 1937 ---------- Muon Electron ------------------ 0.106 GeV
------------------- 1947 ---------- Pion and Kaon -----------
------------------- 1955 ---------- Anti-proton ------------------------ 932 GeV
------------------- 1956 ---------- Neutrino ------------------------ 10^-9 GeV
------------------- 1962 ---------- Muon Neutrino -----------------10^-9 GeV
------------------- 1969 --------- Up Quark ------------------------- 0.002 GeV
------------------------------------ Down Quark --------------------- 0.005 GeV
------------------------------------ & Strange Quark -------------------- 0.1 GeV
------------------- 1974 ---------- Charm Quark ---------------------- 1.3 GeV
------------------- 1975 ---------- Tau Electron ------------------- 1.777 GeV
------------------- 1977 ---------- Bottom Quark --------------------- 4.2 GeV
------------------- 1979 ---------- Gluon ------------------------------- mass less
------------------- 1983 ---------- W Boson --------------------------80.39 GeV
-------------------------------------- & Z Boson --------------------- 91.188 GeV
------------------- 1995 ---------- Top Quark ------------------------- 173 GeV
------------------- 2000 ---------- Tau Neutrino -------------------- 10^-9 GeV
------------------- ????? ----------Higgs Boson ------------------------ 117 GeV
------------------- 2009 ---------- Waiting for new discoveries at CERN, Large Hadron Collider. What will the next particle be ? ------------------------- 1000 GeV
-
- If we categories these particles that explain Everything we come up with at least 18 fundamental particles:
-
-------------- 6 particles of matter are called Quarks ( Up, Down, Charm, Strange, Top and Bottom.)
-
-------------- 6 particles are called Leptons ( Electron, Muon electron, Tau electron, Electron Neutrino, Muon Neutrino, and Tau Neutrino.)
-
------------- 6 particles are force carriers and are called Bosons ( Photon, Z-Boson, W-Boson, Gluon, Higgs Boson, and Graviton.)
-
These 18 particles are ordinary matter and there are an equivalent list for anti-matter. But, let’s stick with matter, and just assume anti-matter is just the mirror image of another 18 particles. We define 18 particles, but, how do we define particles?
-
- Particles are infinitesimal points of wavelike energy that exists in space with defined probabilities, but otherwise random locations. Wow! All particles, all matter, has a wave-particle duality.
-
- The wavelength of particles is inversely proportional to the energy of motion, or the momentum of the particle. The math requires that the momentum, or mass, of the particle must be very small in order to have a wavelength that is big enough to matter much. The math:
-
--------------- Wavelength = 10^-34 / Momentum
-
---------------- Wavelength in meters = Planck’s Constant of Action in kilograms *meters^2/second divided by momentum in kilograms * meters / second.
-
--------------- Momentum = mass * velocity
-
--------------- Every mass in motion has kinetic energy and has momentum and therefore has a wavelength. Because “Planck’s Constant of Action” is so small, 6.6*10^-34, it requires a very small mass * velocity to have a noticeable wavelength. All the fundamental particles are small enough. Even atoms and bacteria are small enough to have a wavelength that is detectable, about a billionth of a meter.
-
- When a particle has a noticeable wavelength its energy is spread out over space. The intensity of the wave varies with the square of the amplitude of the wave. The square of the amplitude of the wave tells the probability of position where the particle can be found.
-
- There is no way to know the particle’s exact position, you can only know the probability of where it can be found. All of these 18 fundamental particles suffer from this same scheme of probabilities.
-
- The math is called Quantum Mechanics. The math is exceedingly accurate. Every experiment has proven the probabilities to prove out exactly as calculated. In the micro world everything exits according to mathematical odds. In the macro world somehow the statistics allow particles to explain almost Everything we can observe in the Universe in “definite” terms.
-
- The biggest mystery now is that we can observe only about 4% of the Universe. The rest of the Universe (96%) is Dark Energy or Dark Matter neither of which we can directly observe.
-
- Indirectly there is plenty of evidence that the Dark stuff exists. This probably means there are more particles to discover. Or, maybe fewer elementary particles, or strings, that make up these fundamental particles and can explain Everything.
-
- Physics is due for some new discoveries. Will more particles explain Everything? Will fewer particles explain Everything? I am still fascinated by everything we can learn from just two particles, the electron and the photon.
-
- I think new discoveries will even occur with light and electricity / magnetism when more particles are discovered. The Dark stuff will probably enlighten us when we figure out what it is.
-
- Calculating the energy of a photon with a mass of 1.67*10^-27 kilograms.
-
--------------------- c^2 = 8.94*10^16 m^2 / sec^2.
-
-------------------- 1 eV = 10^-19 joules.
-
--------------------- E = mc^2. E = 932 GeV.
-
- April 20, 2020 2713
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Comments appreciated and Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----
--- Some reviews are at: -------------- http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
-- email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
--- to: ------ jamesdetrick@comcast.net ------ “Jim Detrick” -----------
- https://plus.google.com/u/0/ -- www.facebook.com -- www.twitter.com
--------------------- Tuesday, April 21, 2020 -------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment