Dorling Kindersley / Getty ImagesĬomposite particles can be divided into groups, too. Pi-plus meson, a type of hadron, showing quarks (in orange) and gluons (in white). A neutron is a subatomic composite particle consisting of two down quarks and one up quark. A proton is a subatomic composite particle made up of two up quarks and one down quark. So, the electron is a subatomic particle, an elementary particle, and a type of lepton. There are other proposed elementary particles, including the graviton and magnetic monopole. 12 gauge bosons, which include the photon, 3 W and Z bosons, and 8 gluons.6 kinds of leptons: electron, muon, tau, electron neutrino, muon neutrino, tau neutrino.6 flavors of quarks: up, down, top, bottom, strange, charge.The Standard Model of physics includes at least: Elementary particles cannot be subdivided into smaller units. Composite particles are made up of smaller particles. Subatomic particles may be classified as either composite particles or elementary particles. Elementary particles cannot be further divided into smaller subunits.
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Chemistry is essentially the study of electron transfer between atoms and molecules.Ĭomposite particles consist of two or more elementary particles. Gaining electrons can yield negative species called anions. Loss of electrons can lead to the formation of positive-charged species called cations. A neutral atom has an equal number of protons and electrons.īecause electrons orbit around atomic nuclei, they are the subatomic particles that affect chemical reactions. It's also important to note the charge of an electron and a proton, while opposite, are equal in magnitude. Because the electron's mass is so low, only protons and neutrons are considered when calculating the mass number of an atom.īecause the electron and proton have opposite charges, they are attracted to each other. To put the electron's size in perspective, a proton is 1863 times more massive. Electrons are much smaller than protons or neutrons and typically orbit an atomic nucleus at a relatively great distance from its core. The third major type of subatomic particle in an atom is the electron. They orbit around the nucleus of an atom.
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Electrons are tiny negative-charged particles.