Particles Categories

LEPTONS

HADRONS

MATTER AND ANTIMATTER

BARYONS

MESONS

Made from quarks, experience the strong interaction. Will change quark composition via the weak interaction and will experience the electromagnetic interaction if the particle is charged.

Made from 3 quarks, have a baryon number of magnitude 1, common examples are protons and neutrons, do not have a strangeness. Neutrons will eventually decay to electrons.

Made from an antiquark and a quark, examples include pions and kaons. Pions have no strangeness. Kaons have a strangeness. Pions are the exchange particle for the strong interaction alongside gluons. Strangeness can only change by a magnitude of 1 in the weak interaction, otherwise it is always conserved.

Fundamental particles, do not experience the strong nuclear force as they have no quarks to change or interact with. Will interact through the electromagnetic or weak nuclear forces. Include electrons, neutrinos and muons. Have a lepton number of magnitude 1. Muons are more massive than electrons so are more unstable so will decay into electrons eventually.