Physics 9702 · AS & A Level
Fundamental particles
88 practice questions on Fundamental particles, with worked solutions and instant marking.
A neutron undergoes decay by releasing a $\beta^-$ particle.
Feb/March 2016
A single neutron decays into a proton, a $\beta^{-}$ particle and an antineutrino. Which row shows the quark structure of the neutron and of the proton, together with the force responsible for this reaction?
Feb/March 2018
The four particles listed below are: alpha, beta-plus, neutron, proton
Feb/March 2019
Which row shows the correct type and quark composition of the particle named?
Feb/March 2020
The nuclei for several common isotopes of hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium are displayed. Which nucleus has the same number of up quarks as down quarks?
Feb/March 2021
A meson with positive charge is made up of one quark and one antiquark. What might the quark and antiquark be?
Feb/March 2022
Which quark flavours carry charge $+\frac{2}{3}e$?
Feb/March 2024
A nucleus of carbon-10, $^{10}_{6}\text{C}$, undergoes beta-emission and is transformed into a nucleus of boron-10, $^{10}_{5}\text{B}$. For this decay process, what change happens to a nucleon, and how does the quark composition of the nucleon change?
Feb/March 2024
State the name of the class (group) of fundamental particles that includes a neutrino.
Feb/March 2024
How would you describe a baryon in general terms?
Feb/March 2025
What charge, expressed in terms of the elementary charge $e$, does a charm quark carry?
Feb/March 2025
Which statement gives a description of $\beta^-$ decay in a simple quark model?
May/June 2016
Which row correctly classifies protons, electrons and neutrinos?
May/June 2016
The proton’s charge can be taken to have a size of $+1$ unit. With this convention, the charges of the up ($u$) quark, down ($d$) quark and their antiquarks ($\bar{u}$ and $\bar{d}$) are not whole units. Which row in the table gives the correct values for the charges of the $u$, $d$, $\bar{u}$ and $\bar{d}$ quarks?
May/June 2016
Give one example each of a hadron and a lepton.
May/June 2016
State the class (group) for each of these particles: electron; neutron; neutrino; proton.
May/June 2016
Distinguish clearly between an $\alpha$-particle and a $\beta^+$-particle.
May/June 2016
How are the proton and the neutron structured in terms of quarks?
May/June 2017
Which particle counts as a fundamental particle?
May/June 2017
Describe two distinctions between the decay of a nucleus that emits a $\beta^-$ particle and the decay of a nucleus that emits a $\beta^+$ particle.
May/June 2017
Which fundamental particle is a lepton?
May/June 2018
How many down quarks are present in the nucleus of hydrogen-3, $^3_1\text{H}$?
May/June 2018
A neutron consists of one up (u) quark and two down (d) quarks. As the neutron decays into a proton, $\beta^-$-emission occurs. What change happens to the neutron’s quark arrangement because of the $\beta$-emission? (The symbol for a neutrino is $\nu_e$ and for an antineutrino is $\bar{\nu}_e$.)
May/June 2018
Which list is made up entirely of leptons?
May/June 2018
Some particles consist of three quarks. Which combination of quarks would not produce a particle with a charge of either $+1.6 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$ or zero?
May/June 2019
Which statement describes $\beta^-$ decay using a simple quark model?
May/June 2019
A consequence of the $\alpha$-particle scattering experiment is that a very small fraction of the $\alpha$-particles are deflected through angles greater than $90^\circ$. State what can be deduced about the atom's structure from this observation.
May/June 2019
State what is meant by a field line (line of force) in an electric field.
May/June 2019
A hadron carries charge $+e$, with $e$ being the elementary charge. Which arrangement of up ($u$) and down ($d$) quarks might make up this hadron?
May/June 2020
A hadron has charge $-e$ and is made up of three quarks. What might the quark composition of this hadron be?
May/June 2020
Which equation represents the process of $\beta^+$ decay? Key: $u$ stands for the up quark $d$ denotes the down quark $\nu$ = (electron) neutrino $\bar{\nu}$ = (electron) antineutrino
May/June 2020
A nucleus of element $X$ undergoes decay by releasing a $\beta^+$ particle, forming potassium-39 $\left(^{39}_{19}\text{K}\right)$ and a neutrino. The decay is written as $^{Q}_{S}X \rightarrow ^{39}_{19}\text{K} + ^{P}_{R}\beta^+ + ^{0}_{0}\nu$.
May/June 2020
Which particle counts as a fundamental particle?
May/June 2021
During $\beta^-$ decay, a neutron within a nucleus turns into a proton. Which statement best describes the quark composition of the nucleus as the decay happens?
May/June 2021
A hadron consists of three quarks. This hadron is charged. What could be a possible quark composition of this hadron?
May/June 2021
Within the nucleus, a proton decays to make a neutron and a $\beta^+$ particle. State the name of the other lepton that is created in the decay.
May/June 2021
An unstable nucleus $^{A}_{Z}X$ undergoes decay by releasing a $\beta^{-}$ particle. Determine the changes, if any, in $A$ and $Z$ after $X$ decays.
May/June 2022
A caesium-137 nucleus ($^{137}_{55}\text{Cs}$) decays by sending out a $\beta^-$ particle, creating a nucleus of element X and an antineutrino. The decay is written as $^{137}_{55}\text{Cs} \rightarrow \; ^Q_S\text{X} + R\,\beta^- + ^0_0\bar{\nu}$.
May/June 2022
The proton is assigned mass $m_p$ and charge $+e$. What are the mass and charge for an antiproton?
May/June 2023
A $\pi^+$ meson carries a charge of $+e$, where $e$ is the elementary charge. It is made up of an up quark and one additional quark. What might the other quark in the $\pi^+$ meson be?
May/June 2023
What quark composition makes up a hydrogen-3 nucleus, $^3_1\text{H}$?
May/June 2023
Table 7.1 presents incomplete information for three quark flavours (types). The elementary charge is $e$.
May/June 2023
Which particle is not classified as a fundamental particle?
May/June 2024
What charge is carried by an anti-top quark?
May/June 2024
Which elementary particles make up a hadron?
May/June 2024
The diagrams illustrate the quark composition of four different hadrons. One of these hadrons is a $\Sigma^+$ particle. Its charge is $+e$, where $e$ is the elementary charge. Which hadron could be the $\Sigma^+$ particle?
May/June 2024
Which kind of particle contains the greatest number of quarks?
May/June 2024
Particles Q and R each consist of one quark and one antiquark.
May/June 2024
Which list includes only fundamental particles?
May/June 2025
A hadron is made up of antiquarks that are all the same. What could be a possible value, in terms of the elementary charge $e$, for the hadron’s charge?
May/June 2025
Which particles make up a meson?
May/June 2025
The nucleus of carbon-11 has 6 protons and 5 neutrons. This carbon-11 nucleus undergoes decay by $\beta^+$ emission. What is the total number of up and down quarks in the daughter nucleus formed after this decay?
May/June 2025
What is the charge on an antidown quark, and what is the charge on an antistrange quark?
May/June 2025
Which particle is not classified as a lepton?
May/June 2025
What is the number of flavours (types) of antiquark that exist?
May/June 2025
Nitrogen-12 ($^{12}_{7}\text{N}$) is an unstable isotope of nitrogen that changes into carbon-12 ($^{12}_{6}\text{C}$) by emitting radiation. Complete the full nuclear equation for the decay, including every particle involved.
May/June 2025
The antineutron is the neutron’s antiparticle counterpart. Its quarks are the antiparticles of the quarks found in a neutron. The elementary charge is $e$.
May/June 2025
State the names of any two different leptons.
May/June 2025
What is meant by a proton?
Oct/Nov 2016
Which diagram shows the structure of an antineutron?
Oct/Nov 2016
What does the term proton mean?
Oct/Nov 2016
State one way in which a hadron differs from a lepton.
Oct/Nov 2016
State one distinction between a hadron and a lepton.
Oct/Nov 2016
Which pairing of up (u) and down (d) quarks makes up a neutron?
Oct/Nov 2017
What combination of up (u) and down (d) quarks makes up a proton?
Oct/Nov 2017
A neutron in a nucleus undergoes decay to form a proton, a $\beta^-$ particle and an (electron) antineutrino. $$n \rightarrow p + \beta^- + \bar{\nu}$$
Oct/Nov 2017
One kind of hadron has no charge. It contains a down quark, a strange quark and one additional quark. What might the other quark be?
Oct/Nov 2018
During $\beta^{-}$ decay, a neutron within a nucleus turns into a proton. Which statement gives the quark composition of the nucleus at the time of the decay?
Oct/Nov 2018
The diagrams display the quark makeup of four different hadrons. One of the hadrons is a $\Sigma^+$ particle. Its charge is $+e$, with $e$ representing the elementary charge. Which hadron could be the $\Sigma^+$ particle?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which particle is not a fundamental particle?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which particle is classified as a hadron?
Oct/Nov 2020
Which particle is classified as a fundamental particle?
Oct/Nov 2020
State one similarity and one difference between an up quark and an up antiquark.
Oct/Nov 2020
What combination of up (u) and down (d) quarks makes a proton?
Oct/Nov 2021
Which arrangement of quarks could not represent the quark makeup of the hadron illustrated? $p$ = proton $n$ = neutron $\Sigma^{-}$ = sigma particle of charge $-e$ $\Sigma^{+}$ = sigma particle of charge $+e$ $u$ = up quark $d$ = down quark $s$ = strange quark
Oct/Nov 2021
Which list of particles includes only fundamental particles?
Oct/Nov 2022
Which particle counts as a lepton?
Oct/Nov 2022
A particle is made up of two up quarks and one charm quark. What is its charge, written in units of the elementary charge $e$?
Oct/Nov 2022
A lepton is one example of a fundamental particle. State what the term fundamental particle means.
Oct/Nov 2022
A given hadron consists of three quarks and carries zero charge. What could be one possible quark composition for this hadron?
Oct/Nov 2023
Which arrangement of up (u) and down (d) quarks makes up a neutron?
Oct/Nov 2023
Certain particles consist of three quarks combined together. Which set of quarks does not give a particle with a charge of either $+1.6 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$ or zero?
Oct/Nov 2023
The outcomes of the $\alpha$-particle scattering experiment led to the nuclear model for the atom. State the outcomes that showed that most of the atom’s mass is concentrated in a very small region and that most of the atom is empty space.
Oct/Nov 2023
From the list below, underline every particle that is not fundamental: antineutrino, baryon, nucleon, positron.
Oct/Nov 2023
Which particle is not classified as a fundamental particle?
Oct/Nov 2024
Which option is not one of the quark flavours?
Oct/Nov 2024
What are the names of the group (class) of particles that includes mesons, and the group (class) of particles that includes baryons?
Oct/Nov 2024
Complete Table 7.1 so that the charges, expressed in terms of the elementary charge $e$, are shown for each of the quark and antiquark flavours listed.
Oct/Nov 2024