Nuclear & Particle Physics
4 terms
Mass Defect
Nuclear & Particle Physics
u (Atomic Mass Units) or MeV/c²
The difference between the total mass of an atom's individual free nucleons and the actual smaller mass of the bound atomic nucleus.
Δm = Z m_p + (A - Z) m_n - M_nucleus
Mean Life
Nuclear & Particle Physics
Seconds or Years
The average expected lifetime of a radioactive nucleus before undergoing radioactive decay.
τ = 1 / λ = t_½ / ln(2) ≈ 1.443 t_½
Mesons
Nuclear & Particle Physics
Composite Boson Class
Hadronic subatomic particles composed of one valence quark and one valence antiquark bound by gluons.
Quark Content: q q̄, Spin = 0, 1, Baryon Number = 0
Muon
Nuclear & Particle Physics
MeV/c² (Mass Energy)
A second-generation elementary charged lepton with a mass approximately 207 times greater than an electron.
m_μ ≈ 105.66 MeV/c², τ_μ ≈ 2.2 μs, Spin = ½