elementary particles

Cultural  

1. The particles that make up the atom. The elementary particles include electrons and a large number of particles, including protons and neutrons, that exist inside the nucleus of atoms. Strictly speaking, the term elementary as applied to most of the particles in the nucleus is inaccurate, for scientists now believe that all the particles except electrons are made of still more elementary particles called quarks.

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The study of elementary particles is one of the frontiers of modern physics and is associated with the building of particle accelerators.

Example Sentences

The Nobel committee praised "their penetrating investigation... which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles".

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2025

Finally elementary particles are protons, electrons, neutrons and all other particles that are smaller than an atom.

From Salon • Nov. 13, 2024

One of the best known is radioactive decay: a process where due to quantum effects, elementary particles can escape the attractive force that ties them to atomic nuclei.

From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2024

In the first milliseconds after the Big Bang, the universe was hot, dense and full of elementary particles like protons, neutrons and electrons swimming around in a plasma.

From Scientific American • Jul. 28, 2023

So the question is: what are the truly elementary particles, the basic building blocks from which everything is made?

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking