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charge

(Encyclopedia)charge, property of matter that gives rise to all electrical phenomena (see electricity). The basic unit of charge, usually denoted by e, is that on the proton or the electron; that on the proton is d...

deuterium

(Encyclopedia)deuterium do͞otērˈēəm [key], isotope of hydrogen with mass no. 2. The deuterium nucleus, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron. Deuterium is also called heavy hydrogen, and water...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Stern, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Otto stûrn, Ger. ôˈtō shtĕrn [key], 1888–1969, American physicist, b. Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Breslau, 1912. After resigning from his post at the Univ. of Hamburg in 1933, he became prof...

baryon

(Encyclopedia)baryon bârˈēŏnˌ [key] [Gr.,=heavy], class of elementary particles that includes the proton, the neutron, and a large number of unstable, heavier particles, known as hyperons. From a technical poi...

gluon

(Encyclopedia)gluon, an elementary particle that mediates, or carries, the strong, or nuclear, force. In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the quantum field theory of strong interactions, the interaction of quarks (to ...

phosphorylation

(Encyclopedia)phosphorylation, chemical process in which a phosphate group is added to an organic molecule. In living cells phosphorylation is associated with respiration, which takes place in the cell's mitochondr...

van der Meer, Simon

(Encyclopedia)van der Meer, Simon, 1925–2011, Dutch physical engineer. He spent nearly his entire career at CERN, where he did his most important work with Carlo Rubbia. They discovered the W and Z particles, whi...

tritium

(Encyclopedia)tritium trĭtˈēəm [key], radioactive isotope of hydrogen with mass number 3. The tritium nucleus, called a triton, contains one proton and two neutrons. It has a half-life of 12.5 years and decays ...

elementary particles

(Encyclopedia)CE5 elementary particles, the most basic physical constituents of the universe. The first subatomic particle to be discovered was the electron, identified in 1897 by J. J. Thomson. After the...

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