subatomic particle: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

Large Hadron Collider

Diagram of the Rutherford atomic model for a neon atom, showing electrons orbiting a central nucleus. An inset magnifies the nucleus, depicting clustered protons and neutrons.

electrons and positrons in a bubble chamber

Diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum showing different types of waves arranged by wavelength and frequency, from gamma rays and X-rays to ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave, TV/FM radio, shortwave radio, AM radio, and longwave radio.

Computer-generated diagram showing particle tracks from a proton-antiproton collision at the center of the UA1 detector at CERN, with labeled paths for electron and positron.

meson in a bubble chamber

Portrait of British physicist James Chadwick in a suit and tie, looking directly at the camera.

Werner Karl Heisenberg sits at a desk in a suit with his hands folded, bookshelves in the background.

Murray Gell-Mann

Understanding John Dalton's atomic theory of matter

Know about the properties and ways to detect neutrinos

Properties of Antimatter

Understanding Newton's theory of universal gravitation

Understand the uncertainty principle as defined by the properties of waves

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

strangeness drift associated production electron-positron creation elementary particle virtual photon zino wino squark slepton Star chemical element Universe nanoparticle Planet molecule Astronomy radiation chemical bonding principles of physical science

Key People

Hooft, Gerardus 't

Gerardus ’t Hooft

Dutch physicist

default image

Walther Bothe

German physicist

Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi

Italian-born American scientist

J.J. Thomson

J.J. Thomson

British physicist

J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

American physicist

Wolfgang Pauli, 1945.

Wolfgang Pauli

American physicist

Murray Gell-Mann

Murray Gell-Mann

American physicist

Richter, Burton; Perl, Martin Lewis; Goldhaber, Gerson

Martin Lewis Perl

American physicist

Yukawa Hideki at Columbia University, 1949.

Yukawa Hideki

Japanese physicist

default image

Martinus J.G. Veltman

Dutch physicist

default image

Donald A. Glaser

American physicist

Periodic Table of the elements concept image (chemistry)

Facts You Should Know: The Periodic Table Quiz

Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi at work in the wireless room of his yacht Electra, c. 1920.

All About Physics Quiz

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.

Physics and Natural Law