THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE UNIVERSE
Atoms are supposedly the building blocks of the universe, and that isn’t not true. But, there are more intricate systems in place behind the seeming simplicity of an atom, as well as the universe surrounding us, that are considered to be the true building blocks of the universe. (Figure 1: The Standard Model) Named somewhat terribly, the Standard Model (for from standard) as pictured above in Figure 1 consists of the components that make up atoms and other forces. For example, the more well-known particles like photons and electrons are in the Standard Model under different sections. The Standard Model is split into two main sections; the Fermions and the Bosons. Fermions The particles in the purple section are labeled as quarks, these quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, specifically the up and down quarks. They come in pairs of two: Up/Down, Charm/Strange, Top/Bottom. An important thing to reme...
