Nick Connor

Fundamental Interactions – Fundamental Forces

In physics, the fundamental interactions, also known as fundamental forces, are interactions among elementary particles that do not appear to be reducible to more basic interactions. These interactions govern how particles and also macroscopic objects interact and how certain particles decay. Generally, they can be classified into one of four fundamental forces:

• Gravitational force. Gravity was the first force to be investigated scientifically. The gravitational force was described systematically by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Newton stated that the gravitational force acts between all objects having mass (including objects ranging from atoms and photons, to planets and stars) and is directly proportional to the masses of the bodies and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy (including light) cause gravitation and are under the influence of it.  Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental forces of physics, approximately 10³⁸ times weaker than the strong force. On the other hand, gravity is additive. Every speck of matter that you put into a lump contributes to the overall overall gravity of the lump. Since it is also a very long range force, it is dominant force at the macroscopic scale, and is the cause of the formation, shape and trajectory (orbit) of astronomical bodies.
• Electromagnetic force.  The electromagnetic force is the force responsible for all electromagnetic processes. It acts between electrically charged particles. It is infinite-ranged force, much stronger than gravitational force, obeys the inverse square law, but neither electricity nor magnetism adds up in the way that gravitational force does. Since there are positive and negative charges (poles), these charges tend to cancel each other out.
• Weak force. The weak interaction or weak force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the intermediate vector bosons, the W and the Z. Since these bosons are very massive (on the order of 80 GeV, the uncertainty principle dictates a range of about 10^-18 meters which is less than the diameter of a proton. As a result, the weak interaction takes place only at very small, sub-atomic distances.
• Strong force. The strong interaction or strong force is one of the four fundamental forces and involves the exchange of the vector gauge bosons known as gluons. In general, the strong interaction is very complicated interaction, because it significantly varies with distance. The strong nuclear force holds most ordinary matter together because it confines quarks into hadron particles such as the proton and neutron. Moreover, the strong force is the force which can hold a nucleus together against the enormous forces of repulsion of the protons is strong indeed.

These fundamental interactions are characterized on the basis of the following four criteria:

• the types of particles that experience the force
• the range over which the force is effective
• the relative strength of the force
• the nature of the particles that mediate the force

See also:

Nuclear Physics

Electron Cloud

Electron cloud model is a model of an atom, in which the atom consist of a small but massive nucleus surrounded by a cloud of rapidly moving electrons. The electron cloud model says that we cannot know exactly where an electron is at any given time, but the electrons are more likely to be in specific areas. Electron cloud model defines the zone of probability describing the electron’s location, because of the uncertainty principle.

The electrons in an atom are attracted to the protons in the nucleus by the electromagnetic force. This force binds the electrons inside an electrostatic potential well surrounding the smaller nucleus, which means that an external source of energy is needed for the electron to escape.

The number of electrons in an electrically-neutral atom is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to 1,602 x 10^-19coulombs. Each electron is influenced by the electric fields produced by the positive nuclear charge and the other (Z – 1) negative electrons in the atom.

Since the number of electrons and their arrangement are responsible for the chemical behavior of atoms, the atomic number identifies the various chemical elements. The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.

See also: Is an atom an empty space?

See also:

Electron

What is Positron – Properties

The antiparticle of the electron is called the positron; it is identical to the electron except that it carries electrical and other charges of the opposite sign. When an electron collides with a positron, both particles can be totally annihilated, producing gamma ray photons.

The positrons are positively charged (+1e), almost massless particles. Their rest mass equal to 9.109 × 10⁻³¹ kg (510.998 keV/c²) (approximately 1/1836 that of the proton).

Like all elementary particles, electrons exhibit properties of both particles and waves: they can collide with other particles and can be diffracted like light.  The original idea for antiparticles came from a relativistic wave equation developed in 1928 by the English scientist P. A. M. Dirac (1902-1984). He realised that his relativistic version of the Schrödinger wave equation for electrons predicted the possibility of antielectrons. These were discovered by Paul Dirac and Carl D. Anderson in 1932 and named positrons. They studied cosmic-ray collisions via a cloud chamber – a particle detector in which moving electrons (or positrons) leave behind trails as they move through the gas. Positron paths in a cloud chamber trace the same helical path as an electron but rotate in the opposite direction with respect to the magnetic field direction due to their having the same magnitude of charge-to-mass ratio but with opposite charge and, therefore, opposite signed charge-to-mass ratios. Although Dirac did not himself use the term antimatter, its use follows on naturally enough from antielectrons, antiprotons, etc.

See also: Positron Interaction

See also: Shielding of Positrons

See also:

Electron

Electrons in the Standard Model

Quarks and electrons are some of the elementary particles. A number of fundamental particles have been discovered in various experiments. So many, that researchers had to organize them, just like Mendeleev did with his periodic table. This is summarized in a theoretical model (concerning the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions) called the Standard Model. In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle whose substructure is unknown, thus it is unknown whether it is composed of other particles.

In the present Standard Model, there are six “flavors” of quarks, six quarks, just as there are six leptons based on a presumed symmetry in nature.

See also:

Electron

Mass and Charge of Electron

An electron is one of the fundamental particles that make up matter. All matter except dark matter is made of molecules, which are themselves made of atoms. The atoms consist of two parts. An atomic nucleus and an electron cloud. The electrons are spinning around the atomic nucleus. Electrons belong to group of elementary particles, known as leptons. Leptons are elementary, half-integer spin (spin  1⁄2) particles that do not undergo strong interactions. They are subject to the Pauli exclusion principle. This fact has key implications for the building up of the periodic table of elements.

The electrons are negatively charged (-1e), almost massless particles that nevertheless account for most of the size of the atom. Their rest mass equal to 9.109 × 10⁻³¹ kg (510.998 keV/c²) (approximately 1/1836 that of the proton). Electrons were discovered by Sir John Joseph Thomson in 1897. Electrons are located in an electron cloud, which is the area surrounding the nucleus of the atom. The electron is only one member of a class of elementary particles, which forms an atom.

Like all elementary particles, electrons exhibit properties of both particles and waves: they can collide with other particles and can be diffracted like light. The wave properties of electrons are easier to observe with experiments than those of other particles like neutrons and protons because electrons have a lower mass and hence a longer de Broglie wavelength for a given energy.

See also:

Electron

Protons and Neutrons in a Nucleus

A nuclear stability is determined by the competition between two fundamental interactions. Protons and neutrons are attracted each other via residual strong force. On the other hand protons repel each other via the electric force due to their positive charge. Therefore neutrons within the nucleus act somewhat like nuclear glue, neutrons attract each other and protons , which helps offset the electrical repulsion between protons. There are only certain combinations of neutrons and protons, which forms stable nuclei. For example, the most common nuclide of the common chemical element lead (Pb) has 82 protons and 126 neutrons.

Because of the strength of the nuclear force at short distances, the nuclear binding energy (the energy required to disassemble a nucleus of an atom into its component parts) of nucleons is more than seven orders of magnitude larger than the electromagnetic energy binding electrons in atoms. Nuclear reactions (such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion) therefore have an energy density that is more than 10 000 000x that of chemical reactions.

Residual Strong Force

The residual strong force, also known as the nuclear force, is a very short range (about 1 to 3 fm) force, which acts to hold neutrons and protons together in nuclei. In nuclei, this force acts against the enormous repulsive electromagnetic force of the protons. It acts equally only between pairs of neutrons, pairs of protons, or a neutron and a proton. The term residual is associated with the fact, it is the residuum of the fundamental strong interaction between the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons. The residual strong force acts indirectly through the virtual π and ρ mesons, which transmit the force between nucleons that holds the nucleus together.

Atomic nuclei consist of protons and neutrons, which attract each other through the nuclear force, while protons repel each other via the electromagnetic force due to their positive charge. These two forces compete, leading to various stability of nuclei. There are only certain combinations of neutrons and protons, which forms stable nuclei. Neutrons stabilize the nucleus, because they attract each other and protons , which helps offset the electrical repulsion between protons. As a result, as the number of protons increases, an increasing ratio of neutrons to protons is needed to form a stable nucleus. If there are too many (neutrons also obey the Pauli exclusion principle) or too few neutrons for a given number of protons, the resulting nucleus is not stable and it undergoes radioactive decay. Unstable isotopes decay through various radioactive decay pathways, most commonly alpha decay, beta decay, or electron capture. Many other rare types of decay, such as spontaneous fission or neutron emission are known.

See also: Liquid Drop Model

See also:

Proton

Antiproton

As was written, a particle and its antiparticle have the same mass as one another, but opposite electric charge, and other differences in quantum numbers. That means a proton has positive charge while an antiproton has negative charge and therefore they attract each other. A collision between any particle and its antiparticle partner is known to lead to their mutual annihilation. Since matter and antimatter carry an immense amount of energy (due to E = mc²), their mutual annihilation is associated with production of intense photons (gamma rays), neutrinos, and sometimes less-massive particle–antiparticle pairs.

See also: Antimatter

See also:

Proton

Stability of Proton

The free proton (a proton not bound to nucleons or electrons) is a stable particle that has not been observed to break down spontaneously to other particles. Free protons are found naturally in a number of situations (e.g. they make up 90% of cosmic rays) in which energies or temperatures are high enough to separate them from electrons, for which they have some affinity.

Decay of proton is also associated with the law of conservation of baryon number. Baryon number is a generalization of nucleon number, which is conserved in nonrelativistic nuclear reactions and decays. The law of conservation of baryon number states that:

The sum of the baryon number of all incoming particles is the same as the sum of the baryon numbers of all particles resulting from the reaction.

For example, the following reaction has never been observed:

even if the incoming proton has sufficient energy and charge, energy, and so on, are conserved. This reaction does not conserve baryon number since the left side has B =+2, and the right has B =+1.

On the other hand, the following reaction (proton-antiproton pair production) does conserve B and does occur if the incoming proton has sufficient energy (the threshold energy = 5.6 GeV):

As indicated, B = +2 on both sides of this equation.

From these and other reactions, the conservation of baryon number has been established as a basic principle of physics. This principle provides basis for the stability of the proton. Since the proton is the lightest particle among all baryons, the hypothetical products of its decay would have to be non-baryons. Thus, the decay would violate the conservation of baryon number. It must be added some theories have suggested that protons are in fact unstable with very long half-life (~10³⁰years) and that they decay into leptons. There is currently no experimental evidence that proton decay occurs.

See also:

Proton

Structure of Proton

Protons and neutrons have also their structure. Inside the protons and neutrons, we find true elementary particles called quarks. Within the nucleus, protons and neutrons are bound together through the strong force, a fundamental interaction that governs the behaviour of the quarks that make up the individual protons and neutrons.

The proton has a quark composition of uud, and so its charge quantum number is:

q(uud) = ⅔ + ⅔ + (-1/3) = +1

The mass of the proton is 938.272 MeV/c², whereas the mass of the three quarks is only about 12 MeV/c² (only about 1% of the mass-energy of the neutron). Like the proton, most of mass (energy) of the neutron is in the form of the strong nuclear force energy (gluons). The quarks of the neutron are held together by gluons, the exchange particles for the strong nuclear force.

Noteworthy, because most of your mass is due to the protons and neutrons in your body, your mass (and therefore your weight on a bathroom scale) comes primarily from the gluons that bind the constituent quarks together, rather than from the quarks themselves. Mass is primarily a measure of the energies of the quark motion and the quark-binding fields any real object. It must be noted, gluons are inherently massless, they possess energy.

See also:

Proton

What is Electron – Properties of Electron

An electron is one of the fundamental particles that make up matter. All matter except dark matter is made of molecules, which are themselves made of atoms. The atoms consist of two parts. An atomic nucleus and an electron cloud. The electrons are spinning around the atomic nucleus. Electrons belong to group of elementary particles, known as leptons. Leptons are elementary, half-integer spin (spin  1⁄2) particles that do not undergo strong interactions. They are subject to the Pauli exclusion principle. This fact has key implications for the building up of the periodic table of elements.

The electrons are negatively charged (-1e), almost massless particles that nevertheless account for most of the size of the atom. Their rest mass equal to 9.109 × 10⁻³¹ kg (510.998 keV/c²) (approximately 1/1836 that of the proton). Electrons were discovered by Sir John Joseph Thomson in 1897. Electrons are located in an electron cloud, which is the area surrounding the nucleus of the atom. The electron is only one member of a class of elementary particles, which forms an atom.

Like all elementary particles, electrons exhibit properties of both particles and waves: they can collide with other particles and can be diffracted like light. The wave properties of electrons are easier to observe with experiments than those of other particles like neutrons and protons because electrons have a lower mass and hence a longer de Broglie wavelength for a given energy.

Electrons in the Standard Model

Quarks and electrons are some of the elementary particles. A number of fundamental particles have been discovered in various experiments. So many, that researchers had to organize them, just like Mendeleev did with his periodic table. This is summarized in a theoretical model (concerning the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions) called the Standard Model. In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle whose substructure is unknown, thus it is unknown whether it is composed of other particles.

In the present Standard Model, there are six “flavors” of quarks, six quarks, just as there are six leptons based on a presumed symmetry in nature.

Positron

The antiparticle of the electron is called the positron; it is identical to the electron except that it carries electrical and other charges of the opposite sign. When an electron collides with a positron, both particles can be totally annihilated, producing gamma ray photons.

The original idea for antiparticles came from a relativistic wave equation developed in 1928 by the English scientist P. A. M. Dirac (1902-1984). He realised that his relativistic version of the Schrödinger wave equation for electrons predicted the possibility of antielectrons. These were discovered by Paul Dirac and Carl D. Anderson in 1932 and named positrons. They studied cosmic-ray collisions via a cloud chamber – a particle detector in which moving electrons (or positrons) leave behind trails as they move through the gas. Positron paths in a cloud chamber trace the same helical path as an electron but rotate in the opposite direction with respect to the magnetic field direction due to their having the same magnitude of charge-to-mass ratio but with opposite charge and, therefore, opposite signed charge-to-mass ratios. Although Dirac did not himself use the term antimatter, its use follows on naturally enough from antielectrons, antiprotons, etc.

See also: Positron Interaction

See also: Shielding of Positrons

Beta Particle

Beta particles are high-energy, high-speed electrons or positrons emitted by certain fission fragments or by certain primordial radioactive nuclei such as potassium-40. The beta particles are a form of ionizing radiation also known as beta rays. The production of beta particles is termed beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, the electron decay (β− decay) and the positron decay (β+ decay). In a nuclear reactor occurs especially the β− decay, because the common feature of the fission products is an excess of neutrons (see Nuclear Stability). An unstable fission fragment with the excess of neutrons undergoes β− decay, where the neutron is converted into a proton, an electron, and an electron antineutrino.

Electron Cloud

Electron cloud model is a model of an atom, in which the atom consist of a small but massive nucleus surrounded by a cloud of rapidly moving electrons. The electron cloud model says that we cannot know exactly where an electron is at any given time, but the electrons are more likely to be in specific areas. Electron cloud model defines the zone of probability describing the electron’s location, because of the uncertainty principle.

The electrons in an atom are attracted to the protons in the nucleus by the electromagnetic force. This force binds the electrons inside an electrostatic potential well surrounding the smaller nucleus, which means that an external source of energy is needed for the electron to escape.

The number of electrons in an electrically-neutral atom is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to 1,602 x 10^-19coulombs. Each electron is influenced by the electric fields produced by the positive nuclear charge and the other (Z – 1) negative electrons in the atom.

Since the number of electrons and their arrangement are responsible for the chemical behavior of atoms, the atomic number identifies the various chemical elements. The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.

See also: Is an atom an empty space?

See also:

Fundamental Particles