1

Questions on Fundamental Particles

1) (a) State the class of particles which includes protons and neutrons.
(b) A proton inside a nucleus decays into a neutron. Write an equation to represent this decay.
(c) State the composition of a proton in terms of quarks.
(d) Describe the decay of the proton in (b) in terms of quarks.
2) The type of decay for a number of caesium isotopes is shown in the table:
Isotope

128
55

130
55

136
55

138
55

Type of decay

Cs

Cs

Cs

Cs

(i) Explain the term isotope.

(ii) State the interaction between quarks that gives rise to decay.
(iii) Describe the structure of a neutron in terms of quarks.

(iv) Describe decay in terms of the simple quark model.

(v) State two quantities that are conserved in a decay.
(vi) State the fundamental particles produced during the decay of

130
55

Cs

(viii) State the number of protons in the nuclei produced during the decay of

130
55

Cs .

3) The table shows some of the isotopes of phosphorus and, where they are unstable, the type
of decay.
29
30
31
32
33
Isotope
15 P
15 P
15 P
15 P
15 P
Type of decay

Stable

(i) State the difference between each of the isotopes shown in the table.
(ii) Describe the structure of the proton in terms of up (u) and down (d) quarks.
+
(iii) Describe what happens in a beta-plus ( ) decay using a quark model.
(iv) State two quantities conserved in beta decay.
(v) Examine the table of isotopes in the table and suggest what determines whether an isotope
+

emits or .
4) Particle production and annihilation are subject to conservation laws. Two of these laws
are conservation of mass-energy and conservation of momentum.
Free neutrons are unstable. A neutron may decay to become a proton with emission of an
1
1
0
electron. A student represents the decay by the following equation 0n 1 p+ 1e
(a) State, by reference to conservation laws, why the students equation is not correct.
(b) Write down the correct decay equation.

{Family 1 lepton number is not conserved, Equation needs Family I lepton with no charge
+e
e
and L = -1.
fits the bill. n p+ e }
5) Use conservation principles to find out if the following reactions are possible:

(i)

++
p e , (ii)

e
e
++e
+
++

, (iv)
,
(iii)
p n+ e
n p+ e
n+ p e

n+e
(v)
, (vi)
p +e

+ +

+e
p+ p p+ p+ p , (vii)
,
e

+ n+

+ e
(viii)
, (ix)
e

e
p+ p n+
, (x)

6) Up quarks have a charge of

+ +e
p+ p p+ p+ p+e

+2
1
e and down quarks have a charge of
e .
3
3

(i) State the number of each type of quark in a neutron.

(ii) Explain in terms of charge why a neutron has this composition.
(b) (i) A neutron decays by emission. Complete the following decay equation, naming all
the particles produced in the decay.
neutron (electron) + ..................................................................................
(ii) State and explain the change of quarks which occurs when this decay happens.
7) (a) State the combination of quarks that makes up a neutron.
(b) When a neutron decays, a down quark changes into an up quark as shown by the
following reaction.
e
d u+ e +
(i) Show, in terms of the conservation of charge, baryon number and lepton number, that this
transformation is permitted.

(ii) State the products arising from the decay of an anti-down quark, d
8) Leptons, mesons and baryons are three classes of sub-atomic particles.
(a) Some classes of particles are fundamental; others are not. Circle the correct category for
each of these three classes.
leptons fundamental/not fundamental
mesons fundamental/not fundamental
baryons fundamental/not fundamental
(b) Name the class of particles of which the proton is a member.
(c) By referring to the charges on up and down quarks explain how the proton has a charge of
+1e.

9) A negative pion ( ) is a meson with a charge of 1 e .

State and explain the structure of the

in terms of up and down quarks.

10) A physicist, who is attempting to analyse a nuclear event, suggests that a

and a proton collided and were annihilated with the creation of a neutron, a
and a

K particle.

and

particle

+
particle,

particles are mesons. The baryon and lepton numbers

of both these mesons are zero.

(a) Write down the equation that represents this interaction.
(b) Show, in terms of the conservation of charge, baryon number and lepton number, that this
transformation is permitted.
11) (a) A particle is made up from an anti-up quark and a down quark.
(i) Name the classification of particles that has this type of structure.
(ii) State the charge on and baryon number of the particle.
++e
+
e
(b) A suggested decay for the positive muon is +

Showing your reasoning clearly, deduce whether this decay satisfies the conservation rules
that relate to baryon number, lepton number and charge.
12) The equation for

+e

decay can be written as n p+ .

(i) For each particle, either give its quark composition or state that it is a fundamental
particle.
+
(ii) Write a similar equation for decay.
(iii) Explain why these reactions can only be mediated by the
weak interaction.
13) During an experiment into the energy spectrum of

particles, the following graph was produced.

(a) Label each axis of the graph with appropriate units.
(b) State the significance of the figure 0.78.
(c) Explain why this energy spectrum of the

particles

0.78

led to the suggestion that an additional undetected particle must be emitted during the nuclear
decay process. State the missing particle.

14) (a) State the names of the 2 classes of particle, each of which includes both the proton
and the neutron.
(b) It is thought that, in certain circumstances, the proton has a slight probability of decaying
into a neutron, a positron and a third particle.
Write an equation to represent this reaction.
State the name of the third particle.
(c) A free neutron is known to decay with a half-life of about 10 minutes.
In what situation are both neutrons and protons stable?
(d) (i) State the quark composition of (i) the proton, (ii) the neutron.
+
++n 0+
+ p
(ii) In the reaction
two quarks are created. These are a down quark ( d ) and
++ p
p

an anti-down quark ( d ). Simplify this equation and using your answers to (d) (i), write a
quark equation.
(iii) Hence deduce the quark composition of the

15) Tritium-3 (

3
1

H ) decays to helium-3 (

3
2

+
particle. (OCR Jun04)

H e ) with the emission of a

particle.

(i) Name the force responsible for this decay process.

(ii) Write a nuclear equation to represent this process.
(iii) Write a quark equation, in its simplest form, to represent this process. (OCR Jan04)
16) (a) The table of Fig. 6.1 shows four particles and three classes of particle.
hadron

baryon

lepton

Neutron
Proton
Electron
neutrino
Indicate using ticks, the class or classes to which each particle belongs.
(b) The neutron can decay, producing particles which include a proton and an electron.
(i) State the approximate half-life of this process.
(ii) Name the force which is responsible for it.
(iii) Write a quark equation for this reaction.
(iv) Write number equations which show that charge and baryon number are conserved in this
quark reaction.
(c) Fig. 6.2 illustrates the paths of the neutron, proton and electron only in a decay process of
the kind described in (b).

Fig. 6.2
p
Fig. 6.3 represents the momenta of the neutron, n , the proton,
pe

and the electron,

on a vector diagram.

Fig. 6.3
(i) Draw and label a line on Fig. 6.3 which represents the resultant
and

pp

pe

pr

of vectors

pp

(ii) According to the law of momentum, the total momentum of an isolated system remains
pr
p
constant. Explain why the momentum
is not the same as n . (OCR Jan 05)
17) This question is about deducing the quark structure of a nuclear particle.

When a K meson collides with a proton, the following reaction can take place
++ X
+ p K 0 + K
K
X

is a particle whose quark structure is to be determined.

The quark structure of mesons is given below.

Particl
e

Quark Structure
s u

+
K

u s

d s

(a) State and explain whether the original

K particle is a hadron or a lepton

(b) State the quark structure of the proton.

(c) The quark structure of particle 3 is sss . Show that the reaction is consistent with the
theory that hadrons are composed of quarks.
18) This question is about fundamental particles and conservation laws.
Nucleons are considered to be made of quarks.
(a) State the name of the force (interaction) between quarks.
+
p=n+ e is observed
(b) Outline in terms of conservations laws, why the interaction +
+
but the interaction + p=n+ e has never been observed. (You may assume that massenergy and momentum are conserved in both interactions.)
19) This question is about the conservation laws that govern the production, decay and
interactions of fundamental particles.
Use the data in the table below to answer the following questions.
Mass
(MeVc-2)
939.6

Charge
Q
0

Baryon number
B
+1

938.3

+1

+1

938.3

-1

-1

Electron ( e

0.511

-1

+1

+
Antielectron ( e

0.511

+1

-1

+
Pion (

139.6

+1

Pion (

139.6

-1

1116

+1

+1

-1

Particle
Neutron (n)
+
Proton p

Antiproton (

Lambda (
Neutrino (

Antineutrino ( )

Lepton number L
0

Gamma photon ( )

The decay processes given below do not occur in nature. Determine and list the
conservation laws that are violated in these processes. For each suggest a possible correct
decay / interaction process.
Assume that the decaying / interacting particles are initially at rest.

+ +e
(i) Neutron decay:
.
n p
Does not occur because:

Process which does occur is: n

+
+
(ii) Lambda decay:
0 p
Does not occur because:
0
Process which does occur is:

(iii) Electron annihilates with a positron: +e

e
Does not occur because:

+
e
Process which does occur is:
e

20) The diagram shows the main features of a bubble chamber photograph in which a pion
has collided with a stationary proton (reaction A). followed by two subsequent decays
(reactions B and C).

The following information may be useful:

Particle

Baryon number B
0

Strangeness S
0

-1

K0

(a) Write an equation for reaction A.

(b) Show that charge, baryon number and strangeness are all conserved in reaction A.
(c) How is it possible for there to be more pions at the end than at the
beginning of the reactions? Where did they come from?
(d) In addition to the quantities mentioned above, what else must be conserved in all three
reactions?

(a) no current into inputs, Infinite input impedance

Current in 160 k = current in 2 k = (40 mV 0 )/2 k = 20 A
(b) gain = 160/2 = 80, Max Vin = Vout/gain = 15/80 = 187.5 mV
480
68
1

=80
(c) (i)
, same gain
12
3.4
10
(ii) output is 180 out of phase with input
As both amplifiers are inverting amplifiers
(iii) input resistance of Fig 9.1 is 2 k
input resistance of Fig 9.2 is 12 k
(iv) bandwidth of Fig. 9.2 is greater than that of Fig. 9.1
Bandwidth is limited by maximum gain in any stage
Fig. 2.1 has greatest gain (80) of all stages in Fig 9.2
(a) X-ray transmitted through the body at different angles is detected which enables its
intensity to be measured. The X-ray image is based on the different absorption coefficients of
the different tissues in the body.
r.f waves emitted by precessing H-nuclei in the body during relaxation is detected which
enables the relaxation time to be measured. The MRI image is based on the different
relaxation times of H-nuclei in different tissues.
(b) Lots of data need to be stored and then processed to build up the image
(c) MRI scan takes a longer time than CT scan
Children find it difficult to lie still for the duration of the scan (sedation is given to children to
relieve anxiety before and during the scan)
(d) Bones are poor in hydrogen.
So to image bones, CT scan is preferred to MRI.
(Note: This is why CT and MRI are used in conjunction to distinguish the boundaries
between bones and soft tissues)
(a) A TV station on Earth transmits signals to a geostationary satellite using carrier
frequencies in the order of GHz (e,g 14 GHz)
When the satellite receives the signal, it amplifies it and then transmits it back to another
station on Earth using a lower carrier frequency (e.g 11 GHz).
This avoids swamping of incoming signal to satellite by outgoing signal from satellite.
(b) Satellite dish from space diffracts signals over a large geographical area on earth
Signals from a satellite cover a much larger area with one carrier wave than a single
terrestrial aerial. OR Satellite link is on SHF waveband where very large bandwidth can be
obtained. So TV signals can accommodate many channels.
(c) There is large power loss due to large distance between satellite and Earth. The parabolic
dish can direct signals into parallel beam in order to concentrate maximum power to
receiving dish.

10

(d) A satellite has short period (about 90 min) in low orbit (Keplers law)
As the satellite orbits the Earth, the Earth rotates slowly about its axis (in 24 h)
So the satellite passes over every point on Earth, making it suitable for remote sensing.
School textbook pg 342 ex 4
(a) 450g N
(b) (i) 30001.23 = 3690 kg
(ii) n = 3690/0.029 = 1.27 105
(c) upthrust weight of balloon without air + weight of air in balloon
Use 3690 g 450 g+mg , to find minimum m = 3240 kg.
(d) use

pV =nRT , where n = 3240 / 0.029