What is the standard model?

The standard model is a 'catalogue' of subatomic particles (the smallest building blocks of everything in the universe). It categorises these subatomic particles based on their properties and has predicted the existence of particles that were undiscovered at the time - such as the Higg's Boson, which was discovered in 2012.

SL

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

An ideal gas within a closed system undergoes an isothermal expansion from an initial volume of 1m^3 to 2m^3. Given that the initial pressure of the gas is 10^5 Pa, find the final pressure of the gas following the expansion.


The LHC accelerates protons to a speed of 0.999999991c around a 27km ring. Due to relativistic effects, their mass increases. Given that the magnetic fields used are 8T, calculate this mass. What is the total energy of an LHC beam containing 3e14 protons?


Using Newton's law of gravitation, derive a suitable formula for the escape velocity of an object at Earth's surface.


Give a brief description of the Big Bang and describe its link to cosmic microwave background radiation.