Advertisement
Advertisement
elementary particle
noun
- any lepton, hadron, photon, or graviton, the particles once thought to be the indivisible components of all matter or radiation.
elementary particle
noun
- any of several entities, such as electrons, neutrons, or protons, that are less complex than atoms and are regarded as the constituents of all matter Also calledfundamental particle
elementary particle
/ ĕl′ə-mĕn′tə-rē /
- Any of the smallest, discrete entities of which the universe is composed, including the quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons, which are not themselves made up of other particles. Most types of elementary particles have mass, though at least one, the photon, does not.
- Also called fundamental particle
- See also composite particle
Word History and Origins
Origin of elementary particle1
A Closer Look
Example Sentences
In theory, the dynamics of these elementary particles can be calculated using the equations of quantum physics, which when encoded for computers become numbers.
Biology can be reduced to chemistry, chemistry can be reduced to atomic physics, and atoms are made of elementary particles like electrons, quarks, and gluons.
To offer an example that Marletto herself discusses, no one in their right mind would describe the function of a computer in terms of the elementary particles it is made up of.
Now, finding a new element, discovering a new elementary particle or creating a new type of nuclear reactor can take decades, international collaborations of thousands of scientists, and huge, costly experiments.
Such a discovery would at long last herald the breakdown of the 50-year-old Standard Model of particle physics — the set of equations describing the known elementary particles and interactions.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse