Fundamental Forces – Flashcards

the Nuclear Strong Force, the Electromagnetic Force, the Weak Force, the Gravitational Force

An attractive force between all objects with mass; the weakest of the fundamental forces

A force between quarks that binds quarks of different "colors" together to form protons and neutrons and holds the nuclei of atoms together in spite of the protons electrostatic repulsion. It is the strongest of the fundamental forces but acts only across very short distances.

A force involved in radioactive decay; it can change an up quark into a down quark, thereby changing a proton into a neutron, or vice versa.

A force between electrically charged particles. The second strongest of the fundamental forces; it can be either attractive or repulsive.

Newton

Cavendish

directly

inversely

the smallest unit of an element, the building block of matter

the center of the atom - the nucleus contains almost all of the mass of the atom but only constitutes a tiny fraction of the atom's volume (not to be confused with the nucleus of a cell!)

the part of an atom occupied by the electrons; the electron cloud, which constitutes the vast majority of the atom's volume, is almost entirely empty space.

Protons reside in the atom's nucleus. They consist of two up quarks and one down quark. They have a charge of +1 and are relatively massive (compared to an electron).

Neutrons reside in the atom's nucleus. They consist of two down quarks and one up quark. They have no charge and are relatively massive (compared to an electron).

Electrons reside outside of the atom's nucleus. They have a charge of -1 and have very little mass.

the three particles that make up an atom -- protons, neutrons, and electrons

Charge cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred; when two objects interact, the total charge of the system remains the same

Objects with like charges repel, and objects with unlike charges attract with a force that is directly proportional to the charges of the objects and inversely proportional to the distance between the objects squared.

All objects with mass attract all other objects with mass with a force that is directly proportional to the objects' masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

They would attract. (Opposites charges attract.)

They would repel. (Like charges repel.)

They would repel. (Like charges repel.)

Elementary (we think!) particles that make up protons and neutrons (among other things)

In a neutral atom the number of protons and electrons are equal.

The atom must have gained one or more electrons.

The atom must have lost one or more electrons.

The objects must have equal and opposite charges. The net charge on the system was zero to begin with and must remain zero according to the Law of Conservation of Charge.