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How big is the Charm Quark?

The Charm Quark is 1 zeptometer

A Delightful Dive into the Size of the Charm Quark

Have you ever wondered about the building blocks of the universe? What makes up everything we see around us? Welcome to the fascinating world of quarks, the smallest known particles that make up every atom. But there’s one quark that’s particularly “charming” - the Charm Quark.

Size Comparison: The Charm Quark Vs Other Particles

  • The Charm Quark is a part of the family of six quarks: up, down, strange, charm, top, and bottom.
  • Each quark, including the Charm Quark, is much smaller than an atom. In fact, it’s so tiny that scientists can’t measure its size directly. They believe it might be even smaller than one ten-thousandth the size of a proton!
  • To put that into perspective, if a proton were the size of a full moon, a quark would be about as small as a grain of sand!

Exploring the Charm Quark

The Charm Quark is an elementary particle, meaning it can’t be broken down into anything smaller. It’s the third-most massive quark, with a mass of 1.27±0.02 GeV/c^2. Charm Quarks are found in various hadrons, such as the J/psi meson and the charmed baryons. They’re also found in several bosons, including the W and Z bosons and the Higgs boson.

The Discovery of the Charm Quark

The Charm Quark was first predicted in 1964, and then again in 1970. It was finally discovered in 1974 through the J/psi meson at two different laboratories. In the years following its discovery, scientists found several other particles that contain the Charm Quark, including the D meson and the charmed strange mesons.

Recent Discoveries Involving the Charm Quark

In the 21st century, scientists have made some exciting new discoveries involving the Charm Quark:

  • They’ve found a baryon that contains not just one, but two Charm Quarks.
  • They’ve discovered evidence that Charm Quarks might exist inside protons.
  • They’ve studied the relationship between the Charm Quark and the Higgs boson, a particle that gives other particles their mass.
  • They’ve also found evidence of CP violation in the decay of the D0 meson, a particle that contains the Charm Quark. This violation refers to the difference in behavior between a particle and its antiparticle.

The Intriguing World of Quarks

The Charm Quark might be incredibly small, but it plays a big role in the universe. Its discovery and ongoing study have helped scientists understand the fundamental structure of matter. So, while we might not be able to see it, the Charm Quark is a crucial part of the world we live in. And that’s the charm of studying quarks - even the tiniest particles can have a big impact!

Smaller By Category
Bottom Quark
The bottom quark is also called the beauty quark, because it is so flawlessly beautiful. It is third generation and quickly decays into up and charm quarks.
Neutrino
Neutrinos pass through ordinary matter like you and me all the time! In fact, they're doing it right now! Neutrinos have no charge, so they are only affected by gravity and the weak force. However, they are so small that they are barely affected.
Top Quark
The top quark is the smallest quark, which means it is the most massive. It is almost 100,000 times as massive as the up quark, which is the lightest of the quarks. The top quark's mass is 173 billion electronvolts!
Larger By Category
Strange Quark
Strange quarks are very strange. They are 50 times as massive as up quarks, but are still smaller! Isn't that strange? Very much so! "Strange matter" is made up of up, down, and strange quarks!
Down Quark
There are six flavors of quarks. They are up, down, strange, charm, top, and bottom. The smaller a quark is, the more mass it has. As a result, the up and down quarks are actually the lightest of the quarks. This down quark has a charge of -1/3.
Up Quark
There are six flavors of quarks. They are up, down, strange, charm, top, and bottom. The smaller a quark is, the more mass it has. As a result, the up and down quarks are actually the lightest of the quarks. This up quark has a charge of +2/3.