What is the SMALLEST known particle

[qwerty]

If we are made up of cells, cells are made up of atoms, atoms made up of protons neutrons electrons and they are made up of quarks and whatever else they are made up of......... then what are those things made up of.... and what are they made up of..... the list goes on..

 

How can we keep describing smaller 'things' to be made up of even smaller 'things' when we can keep going infinately? hope u guys understand.

[timo]

To our current knowledge there are several particles that are elementary. That is: They are not made out of other particles. These particles e.g. are electrons and their neutrinos, quarks and the gauge bosons like the photon and the gluons.

[qwerty]

but they must be made out of something u know, they cant just be there. I dont really understand how it can just be there and made of nothing else.

 

Firstly what we thought of atoms, just to be there and made up of nothing smaller, that is what we are now thinking about these small particles neutrinos quarks gluons and others??

[raivo]

Quarks need not be smaller than protons or neutrons. Particles do not have clear borders as things in our world do. They act more like irregularitis in energy field. Question what they are made of may also became senseless in some point. Quantum mechanics and especially anything that follows it is mostly just bunch of equations that gives us right numerical results but is unable to say how things look like.

[Spyman]

I guess if we continue to pick particles apart to smaller and smaller pices we will eventually end up with small bits of energy.

[ydoaPs]

but they must be made out of something u know' date=' they cant just be there. I dont really understand how it can just be there and made of nothing else.

 

Firstly what we thought of atoms, just to be there and made up of nothing smaller, that is what we are now thinking about these small particles neutrinos quarks gluons and others??[/quote']

 

really? what are their componants made of? and the componants of them? and so on forever. at some point, the has to a a fundemental level of matter/energy.

[huafan]

really? what are their componants made of? and the componants of them? and so on forever. at some point, the has to a a fundemental level of matter/energy.

 

there is a never ending compound, eveything is made up of everything else there is no smallest unit of matter/energy. there is aways something smaller.

[ydoaPs]

that makes no sense whatsoever

[YT2095]

IMO it would have to be of the brane with the highest frequency (shortest wavelength) capable of interaction with our universe. but my opinion is based on Physics of our Known universe and also presumes an acceptance of M Theory.

[ydoaPs]

i think the best answer is energy. it works with not only string theory, but the standard model as well.

[qwerty]

how can pure energy make up a mass?

[jdurg]

E=mc^2. Energy and mass are directly related with each other. While the famous Einstein equation of relativity isn't exactly as I've put it here, it's good enough to show that mass is energy and energy is mass.

[SamWalker]

but they must be made out of something u know, they cant just be there. I dont really understand how it can just be there and made of nothing else.

 

Firstly what we thought of atoms, just to be there and made up of nothing smaller, that is what we are now thinking about these small particles neutrinos quarks gluons and others??

It is quite simple. I figured it out and named it "The Sam Walker Paradox". Since no number can be divided by 2 to equal zero, we can conclude that matter will not cease to exist by subdivision. Ergo, For every small there is a smaller. All matter is also a part of something larger. The cosmos is stratafied in a never ending order of magnitude. Our reality is one of many strata.

 

And, by the way, ZENO'S PARADOX is nonsense, the man is an idiot. One fundamental flaw is that there is no corresponding decrease in the size of the observer.

[hermanntrude]

I've been teaching my advanced chemistry students about wave-particle duality recently. I realised during this time that it's an easy-enough concept but it's a very difficult one to teach. It's especially hard to teach to students when the student reasons in enormous leaps and bounds of complete nonsense, just to satisfy their egos by coming up with some trite BS and naming it after themselves.

[orpheus]

you need a vacation man..

[hermanntrude]

all teachers everywhere need a vacation, even when they've just had one

[Riogho]

there is a never ending compound, eveything is made up of everything else there is no smallest unit of matter/energy. there is aways something smaller.

 

Except that energy is quantized.

[Zolar V]

energy really is the smallest particle, because if you were to look at E=mc^2 you can have an energy at a negligable mass at a negligable velocity.

if you were to convert a tiny bit of energy into that mass, you then have your smallest particle

[nitric]

just on comment, there is a new thoery that says thet quarks are made up of particles called "prion"s ant that there may be super-dense stars mae of them(much like nuetron stars)

[Riogho]

There are dozens of different 'Preon' Theories out there, none which of really provide anything we don't really know.

[elmejor]

Matter is made up of tiny particles, which are so small that they are not visible from the naked eyes and they are called ATOMS...

we can only see these particles through electron microscope, known as STM

[YT2095]

Matter is made up of tiny particles, which are so small that they are not visible from the naked eyes and they are called ATOMS...

we can only see these particles through electron microscope, known as STM

 

and Atoms are made of...?

[Riogho]

OOO!!! I LOVE THIS GAME!

 

Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons

 

....And those are made of?

[swansont]

You can't fool me. It's turtles all the way down.

[CharonY]

Stacked atop each other, no less.