Physics terms to know
Quiz by Cassy Baker
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- Q1the powerful attractive force that binds protons and neutrons together in the nucleusstrong nuclear force30s
- Q2a powerful attractive force that acts over a short range responsible for beta decayweak nuclear force30s
- Q3weakest fundamental force, hypothetically mediated by gravitons, in general relativity is accounted for by the curvature of spacetime, gravitational waves have been detected by LIGOGravity30s
- Q4mediated by photons, unified with the weak force as the electroweak force governed by Maxwell's equation. The attraction between oppositely charged particles.Electromagnetism30s
- Q5is a vision of a physics theory that can combine three of the four fundamental forces into one single equationGrand Unified Theory30s
- Q6The theory that describes the strong nuclear force. It is a quantum field theory in which quarks interact with one another by exchanging force-carrying particles called "gluons." It has two striking features that distinguish it from the weak and electromagnetic forces. First, the force between two quarks remains constant as the quarks arequantum chromodynamics30s
- Q7See imagepulled apart. This explains why single quarks have never been found in nature. Second, quarks and30s
- Q8See imagegluons interact very weakly at high energies. This theory is an essential part of the Standard Model and is well tested experimentally; however, calculations can be very difficult and are often performed using approximations and computer simulations rather than solved directly.30s
- Q9An explanation of how the elementary particles interact with the four fundamental forces to serve as the basic building blocks of the universeStandard Model30s
- Q10theories under development that comprehensively explain all four fundamental forces in natureTheory of Everything30s
- Q11particles that cause force; the exchange of bosons between fields causes forceBosons30s
- Q12a subatomic particle of a class that is thought to bind quarks together.Gluons30s
- Q13are any particles made out of quarks (alternatively, any particle affected by the strong nuclear force). Generally, this means the baryons and the mesons. All hadrons are colorless (in the sense of the combined color of their constituent quarks). The name "hadron" comes from the Greek for "thick."Hadrons30s
- Q14are one of the classes of "fundamental particles" (meaning that they cannot be broken down into smaller particles). . This word comes from the Greek for "light" (as in "not heavy"), even though the muon and tauon are fairly massive.Leptons30s
- Q15A quantum, or discrete quantity, of light energy that behaves as if it were a particle.Photons30s