What are the different classifications of sub-atomic particles?

Firstly, particles can be split up into to main categories: hadrons and leptons.

Hadrons interact with the strong force and are made of quarks. Leptons don't interact with the strong force and are fundamental particles (they aren't made of quarks). Examples of leptons are electrons, muons and neutrinos.

Hadrons can further be sub-divided again: Baryons and Mesons. 

Baryons are made up of three quarks, where as mesons are made up of a quark and anti-quark. Examples of baryons are protons (up up down) and mesons are pions (up antidown).

JB
Answered by Jordan B. Physics tutor

2029 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

What is the De Broglie wavelength of an electron given it has a kinetic energy of 1 eV? You are given the mass of an electron is 9.11x10^-31 kg and Planck's constant is 6.63x10^-34


What is an ohmic resistor? How to check if a resistor is ohmic?


A block of mass (m) is placed on a rough slope inclined at an angle (a) to the horizontal, find an expression in terms of (a) for the smallest coefficient of friction (x), such that the block does not fall down the slope.


How would we calculate the distance covered by a train that starts at rest, then accelerates to 5km/hr in 30 mins then stays at this constant speed for 12 minutes?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning