Fermions, Leptons, Quarks and Hadrons – the building blocks

All matter, as we experience it, is made up from three main particles – protons, neutrons and electrons. These protons and neutrons are in turn made up from quarks. However there are many more particles which do or can exist, often very briefly, which make up the full set of matter particles. These are called fermions. 

Fermions are the building blocks of our universe, held together by gauge bosons. The fundamental/ elementary fermions, recognised by the Standard Model are quarks and leptons. However, confusingly, there are six different quarks and six leptons.

Showing some of the main properties of leptons and quarks

The main properties of these are shown in the table.

Included as fermions are combinations of quarks, these are hadrons. Hadrons are in turn divided into two sub groups, mesons and baryons. To us, the most important baryons are protons and neutrons. The connections are shown in the table.

Showing the range of particles we call fermions and the connections between them

The explanation on the video (at the bottom of the page)  sets out to show some of the most important properties of these particles and how they relate to one another.

Click on this link to download a PDF copy of the quark and lepton table of properties   Quark and lepton table

 
Click on the link below to download a copy of the sheet showing the connections between fermions. Fermions

Fermions, quarks, leptons and hadrons

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