Particle Physics Scavenger Hunt

Links you’ll need:

CERN - The site for the most cutting edge particle physics research.  Full of experiments and particle accelerators, this organization even came up with the internet!

http://home.cern/about

Particle Adventure – Take a field trip through particle physics history to present day research and see what its all about

http://www.particleadventure.org/

PhET Simulations – The basis of particle physics was experiementation.  Not for the feint of heart, these modern physics simulations are of experiments and theory that got us to realize the particle physics of today.

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics/quantum-phenomena

Fermilab – The premier US particle physics laboratory is home to many discoveries and experiments.  Learn more about particle physics here.

http://www.fnal.gov/pub/science/particle-physics-101/index.html

Hyperphysics – a short and to the point site that summarizes and provides example for every physics topic.  This is a good place to start, and review the failures of the physics you’ve learned to this point.  Then you can open up to the world of particle physics

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/qapp.html#c3

Questions to answer:

1. What is the largest particle accelerator in the world?

2. What are two types of particle accelerators?

3. What is the name for the current model of the atom, and what particle physics is trying to prove/disprove?

4. Where is CERN and FermiLab located?

5. Name three experiments that failed to be explained by ‘classical physics’.
6. What are the 12 particles that make up the known universe?

7. How many fundamental forces are there in the universe, and what are they?

8. List a few mysteries that CERN is trying to explain through its experiments?

9. Using the Photoelectric Effect experiment on PhET, explain how classical physics fails.

10. Write a 2 questions you have about particle physics for our class discussion.