BRAINCAKELepton Rules
Leptons are fundamental particles.
They can change into other leptons through weak interactions.
They can also be produced or annihilated.
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Key terms in this lesson
- Lepton
- A fundamental particle that does not interact through the strong interaction, for example the electron, the muon and their associated neutrinos.
- Hadron
- A particle made up of quarks that interacts through the strong interaction; hadrons are divided into baryons and mesons.
- Muon
- A negatively charged lepton, similar to but much heavier than the electron, produced for example by cosmic rays in the atmosphere.
- Neutrino
- An uncharged, almost massless lepton that interacts only very weakly with matter and is emitted, along with a beta particle, in beta decay.
More in Quarks and Leptons
- Hadrons
- Particle Colliders and Energy
- Baryons and Mesons
- Lepton Collisions
- Neutrinos
- Strangeness
- The Quark Model
- Quarks and Beta Decay
All 17 lessons in Quarks and Leptons · All AQA AS-level Physics topics