Back to the full dot-point answer
WalesPhysicsQuick questions
Unit 1 Motion, Energy and Matter
Quick questions on Particles and nuclear structure: quarks, leptons and conservation laws - WJEC A-Level Physics
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is beta decay at the quark level?Show answer
In beta-minus decay, a down quark changes into an up quark, so a neutron (udd) becomes a proton (uud), emitting an electron and an electron-antineutrino. In beta-plus decay, an up quark changes into a down quark, so a proton becomes a neutron, emitting a positron and an electron-neutrino. Both are mediated by the weak interaction.
What is q1?Show answer
Write the quark composition of a proton and a neutron. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain, in terms of quarks, what happens in beta-minus decay. [2 marks]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.