Particle hunting

[maltese chicken]

I look around me and I have loads of photons blasting my retinas. I plug in my toaster and a rush of electrons flood in and heat up the element inside. I sit down in my chair and feel the pressure of an uncountable number of atoms holding me up, made of protons, neutrons and more electrons.

My question is, in everyday life, where the heck are all the other fundamental particles? Are they all around or do they only occur in very special circumstances? Things like nutrinos, positrons, the anti-matter particles, kaons, mesons or whatever they're called. Where can I find these critters?

Cheers,
maltese chicken

[Bear_Nenno]

don't forget the gluons and klingons

[Saltire]

Well, I'm definitely second-string in the physics department, but I'll start things off.

Most of the more exotic particles are rare. They only occur in situations of very high energy densities, so they are only seen in laboratories and stars. Many are more common in the upper atmosphere, because they are generated by cosmic rays impacting the air.

Others are common, but nearly undetectable. Neutrinos, for instance, are not affected by electromagnetic or strong nuclear forces. They do react to the weak nuclear force, but it has an extremely short range. Since neutrinos travel at the speed of light, they pass through the weak-force range of any other matter too quickly to do anything. If it doesn't react in some way (the way your retinas absorb photons, for instance), there's no way for you to perceive it.

They say that a neutrino could pass through a lightyear of solid lead with very little chance of being absorbed. This is why a large portion of the energy of the universe is running about as neutrinos.

Basically, almost all the matter you are equipped to detect is made up of electrons, protons, neutrons, and photons. The others either never appear near you, or are undetectable when they do.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Some of the weird and wonderful particles you mention such as positrons are very short lived. As soon as they meet with an electron BOOM!! A big explosion of neutrinos and gamma radiation IIRC.

Links:
http://www.particleadventure.org
or check out my friend's home page at
http://www.hepax6.rl.ac.uk/DELPHI/adye/tim.html

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Oops! missed a fun link at
wwwpdg.cern.ch/pdg/cpep/fundamental.html

[Smeghead]

And as for anti-matter, which you also mentioned, that's another particle that would get annihilated as soon as it met any particle of "real" matter.

[DeutschFox]

I don't know about all of these sub-atomic and atomic "particles", but when I lick my finger and stick it into an electrical outlet ... it tends to knock me on my electrons ... When I go outside and the sun is out, I get a little photons ... and in a gas chamber I am told that I am looking at a bunch of the alphas and betas, and I understand neutrinos just don't want anything to do with me, just pass me through!

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Originally posted by DeutschFox
in a gas chamber I am told that I am looking at a bunch of the alphas and betas
If you're in a gas chamber, maybe you should be hoping that the executioner is taking a day off. I think you mean cloud chamber :D

[friedo]

Incidentally, an excellent book to read about all them subatomic doohikeys is Atom, by Mr. Isaac Asimov, whom my mother will never forgive for being such an obnoxious flirt.

[DeutschFox]

Originally posted by Colin Wilkinson
If you're in a gas chamber, maybe you should be hoping that the executioner is taking a day off. I think you mean cloud chamber

Hey Colin! ... I said I had no knowledge concerning sub-atomic "particles". All I know though is tht I like to bathe in the sun's photons. But isn't the cloud formation in a "cloud chamber" a gas of some sort or a condensed vapor, like water or something? .. Andi

[Chronos]

DeutschFox, the term "gas chamber" usually refers to a chamber which gets filled with toxic gas, as a means to execute a person inside the chamber. Cloud chamber or bubble chamber is the term you want.

Also add to the list many particles which are very common as virtual particles, but rare as real (directly detectable) particles. This would include the graviton, gluon, W±, Z, and pion. These are involved in the forces between other, more common, particles. Photons are also much more common as virtual particles (they mediate the electromagnetic force), but there's also a lot of real ones which we can detect.