The standard model of an atom is further defined as a simpler structure for subatomic particles. There are two theories within the standard model known as the electroweak theory and the QCD, quantum chromodynamics. While the electroweak theory describes weaker forces within the atom, quantum chromodynamics describes the theory relating to the strong nuclear force. There are numerous parts of this model that still await clarification and research so the model is not yet confirmed as reliable. A subatomic particle in itself can be either elementary or composite, and are usually recognized as the three main subatomic particles that form an atom: protons, neutrons and electrons. The way subatomic particles are observed is actually a very unique process. For example, once a subatomic particle is being observed, the particle will act drastically different. While an electron specifically is being observed, it is forced to behave in comparison to particles instead of waves. While subatomic particles behave like waves while not be observed, they are able to pass through openings and rejoin on the other side of the barrier it passes through. This process is called interference, something the particle is not able to do when applying a quantum observer.
Many of the subatomic particles that have been recognized over time have been hadrons, mesons, baryons, and leptons. In the year 1964, an important finding became the start of a scientific uproar. Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig came forth with a new idea regarding quarks. They brought up the possibility that mesons and baryons are made up of three different quarks: up, down or strange with the electric charges ⅔ and -⅓. When experimental developments tested out this theory, they concluded that quarks can be recognized as real physical objects. One of the most important findings of this proposal was the fourth quark, allowing a theory that contains flavor conserving interactions but no flavor changing ones. In 1965, O.W. Greenberg, M.Y. Han, and Yoichiro Nambu introduced a specific property of quarks known as color charge. Leptons, the lightest subatomic particles, don’t have color charge while all hadrons, the heaviest particles, are color neutral, either colorless or white.
Leptons and hadrons are the two different particle classifications used when discussing subatomic particles. The two subclasses of hadrons are known as mesons and baryons. Baryons are classified as either protons or neutrons and contain three quarks, as described in the above theory. Within hadrons there are also, antibaryons, classified as either antiprotons or antineutrons. Lastly within hadrons, there are mesons, that contain a quark and an antiquark, categorized as pions or kaons. On the contrary, leptons are the weaker nuclear force, classified either as electrons, muons, or neutrinos. When discussing antiparticles and how they exist within an atom, every particle has its own antiparticle. For example, a proton has an antiproton, a neutron has an antineuron, an electron has a positron, and a neutrino has an antineutrino. Looking into this more specifically, when looking at an electron and a positron, they have the same mass as one another but the positron is positively charged while the electron is negatively charged. Annihilation of each other occurs when these two come in contact with one another, converting their mass into energy forming photons. Photons are defined as electromagnetic radiation that obtain wave properties but can also behave like particles. The energy that a photon holds depends on its frequency.
A photon is a subcategory of bosons that work as nuclear forces. Other bosons include gluons, intermediate vector bosons, and gravitons. Photons are known as the particle full of energy that pushes electrons in certain directions. When a photon makes an electron jump, it emits energy and is the reason things can glow. The amount of energy being emitted determines what color is shown when something is glowing. Even though photons are responsible for carrying electromagnetism, they are not the only particles that hold a strong force. Gluons are a strong, nuclear elementary force that holds together the protons within the atomic nucleus as well as the quarks. It is sometimes referred to as the “glue” of an atom. Gravitons are massless but withhold a large amount of energy. These particles are what keeps us grounded here on Earth and is responsible for the gravitational pull. When gravitons are confined to a small space, they produce more and more gravitons, making the force even stronger. Intermediate vector bosons, a name given to the W+/- and Z⁰ particles, were discovered at the European Center for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. The W and Z particles can be created following an interaction between a quark and an antiquark. The W and Z bosons work together to hold the weak force. The W boson is electrically charged and works to interchange protons and neutrons within an atom. The Z boson on the other hand is the weak neutral current that mediates the process alongside the W boson.
In terms of color interaction, there is a strong nuclear force between quarks. This strong nuclear force, known as the “color force”, has to do with the exchange of gluons as well as the process of pair production energy, and the responsibility of holding quarks together. Color force is the name for the strong interaction force that binds together quarks in a proton and a neutron as well as coupling together protons and neutrons together within an atom. Three primary colors: red, blue and green, represent these three particles (up, up and down) and how they interact with one another. These three colors, not having anything to do with the physical color itself, has its own anti-colors: anti-red, anti-green, and anti-blue. For example, when a red quark emits a gluon that is red anti-green, it cancels out the red and the anti-green, becoming a green quark.
Nuclear forces are the center of an atom’s energy. It is what makes us our world as we know it and is responsible for so many different kinds of reactions. Subatomic particles drive the forces that exist within an an atom and have become so valuable to our everyday life. Science has changed our world as we know it and without it, well we wouldn’t be here living on this beautiful planet called Earth. Subatomic particles, better known as protons, neutrons and electrons are the meaning of life and cause everyday reactions that we sometimes fail to even realize. Antimatter, consisting of its counterparts, antiprotons, antineutrons and positrons, is used in our everyday life as well, seen especially in hospitals through x-rays, and imaging. Radioactive molecules emit antimatter particles that create this powerful energy needed to perform these specific procedures.
In conclusion, I feel like the values and benefits to society that nuclear forces and subatomic research has brought forth is extremely helpful when it comes to understanding our world today. Without these studies, we would never be able to explain the processes that go on throughout our everyday life. These findings allow us to make sense of the planet we live on and come to conclusions about certain scientific theories. Using all of this knowledge, we are able to apply these concepts to the outside world and instead of going off of ideas or possible theories, we can work to actually prove these findings and discoveries. These findings not only help us in the present tense, but set our future researchers up for even deeper, more in-depth experiments that can further our knowledge as a planet. Our world is ever changing and with this complex understanding of the world around us, we can utilize this information to its fullest potential.