7/21/2014 Origins: CERN: Ideas: How Do We Make Sense Of It All?

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How do we make sense of it all?

Physicists have developed a theory known as the Standard Model that explains
our current understanding of the nature of matter -- what it's made of and how
its components interact. According to the theory, all the particles in the universe
-- and we know of more than a hundred different kinds -- can be grouped into
just three "families" of particles: quarks, leptons, and force carrier particles.

Quarks and Leptons

Up Charm Top
Quarks
Down Strange Bottom

Electron Muon Tau

Leptons
Electron Neutrino Muon Neutrino Tau Neutrino

The most fundamental building blocks of all matter are quarks and leptons. There
are six different kinds of each of these particles. For instance, the electron is one
type of lepton, and the "up" quark is one kind of quark.

Force Carrier Particles

Force Gravitational Weak Electromagnetic Strong

Graviton
Force Carrier W +, W - ,
(not yet Photon Gluon
Particle W0
observed)

The only other "family" of particles in the universe is the force carrier particles.
Quarks and leptons interact with one another by exchanging force carrier
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particles.

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EXTERNA L LINKS

For more information on the Standard Model:

The Particle A dventure
Chart of Fundamental Particles and Interactions
Scientific A merican article: A Unified Field of Physics by 2050?

Research at CERN that garnered a Nobel Prize in 1984: Carlo Rubbia and Simon Van
der Meer for the discovery of the "W and Z particles, communicators of the weak
interaction."

2000 The Ex ploratorium

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