Particle physics — AS & A Level Physics (9702) questions by topic
Particle physics in A Level Physics covers antiquark flavours, quark composition of mesons and baryons, nucleon-conservation counting in nuclear decays, and classifying particles by quark count, worth from 1 to 11 marks.
Identify, state and deduce dominate the command words, with calculate and complete also common: complete a decay equation correctly, or deduce how many beta-minus particles balance a charge. This page gathers 46 real questions from 2023 to 2025 papers. Working each one and submitting for instant marking catches a confused meson-versus-baryon quark charge, or a misapplied conservation law, before it costs marks on several similar questions.
What examiners look for
- Examiners note the phrase 'not fundamental' confuses some candidates, with a small proportion misreading the question and underlining only the fundamental particles.
- Fewer candidates than expected can apply conservation of charge to work out the number of beta-minus particles produced.
- A recurring criticism is confusing a meson with a baryon, which better learning of quark and antiquark charges would fix.
- Strong answers correctly apply conservation of nucleon number, for example to determine how many alpha-particles are emitted in a decay.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
Which list contains only fundamental particles? A antineutrinos, baryons, neutrons, electrons B mesons, electrons, neutrinos, protons C positrons, quarks, hadrons, protons D…
Answer this question and get it marked →A hadron consists of antiquarks that are all identical. What is a possible value, in terms of the elementary charge e, for the charge on the hadron? A 0e B +1e C +2e D +3e
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
What is the composition of a meson? A 1 quark and 1 antiquark B 1 quark and 2 antiquarks C 2 quarks and 1 antiquark D 3 quarks
Answer this question and get it marked →A nucleus of carbon-11 contains 6 protons and 5 neutrons. The nucleus of carbon-11 decays by β⁺ emission. What is the total number of up and down quarks in the product of the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 13
In β⁺ decay, which other particle must also be emitted? A alpha particle B antineutrino C electron D neutrino
Answer this question and get it marked →What are the charges of an antidown quark and an antistrange quark? antidown quark antistrange quark --- --- --- A +1/3 e +1/3 e B +1/3 e –2/3 e C –2/3 e +1/3 e D –2/3 e –2/3 e
Answer this question and get it marked →A nucleus undergoes alpha decay followed by two β⁻ decays. Which statement is correct about the final nuclide compared to the original nucleus? A It is a different isotope of the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 14
Which particle is NOT a lepton? A electron B neutrino C neutron D positron
Answer this question and get it marked →How many flavours (types) of antiquark are there? A 3 B 4 C 5 D 6
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 21
Nitrogen-12 (¹²₇N) is an unstable isotope of nitrogen that decays by the emission of radiation to carbon-12 (¹²₆C). Complete the full nuclear equation for the decay, including all…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 22
State what is meant by a fundamental particle.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 23
An antiparticle equivalent of the neutron is called the antineutron. The quarks in the antineutron are the antiparticles of the quarks in a neutron. The elementary charge is e.…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 24
May–June 2024, Paper 11
Hydrogen and deuterium can be represented by the nuclide symbols ¹₁H and ²₁H respectively. What is a difference between hydrogen and deuterium? A The deuterium atom has twice the…
Answer this question and get it marked →A radioactive sample decays by emitting β⁻ particles. The energy released in the decay process is the same for each nucleus that decays, but the β⁻ particles emitted have a…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which particle is not a fundamental particle? A electron B neutrino C neutron D top quark
Answer this question and get it marked →What is the charge of an anti-top quark? A −(2/3)e B −(1/3)e C +(1/3)e D +(2/3)e
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 12
Nuclide X with proton number Z undergoes β⁺ decay to form nuclide Y. The decay may be represented by the equation shown: X → Y + β⁺ + W What is the proton number of Y and which…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which fundamental particles form a hadron? A leptons B nucleons C photons D quarks
Answer this question and get it marked →The unstable nuclide ²¹⁸₈₄X decays through a sequence of emissions of α and β⁻ particles to form the stable nuclide ²¹⁰₈₃Y. How many α and β⁻ particles are emitted during this…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statement about radioactive decay is correct? A Neutrinos are always emitted during α-decay. B The α-particles emitted from a radioactive sample have a continuous range of…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 13
Nucleus P has 144 neutrons and 93 protons. Nucleus P is unstable and undergoes α-decay to form nucleus Q. Nucleus Q then undergoes β⁻ decay to form nucleus R. Nucleus P is…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagrams show the quark composition of four different hadrons. One of the hadrons is a Σ⁺ particle. It has a charge of +e, where e is the elementary charge. The key gives u =…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which type of particle is comprised of the most quarks? A antiquark B baryon C lepton D meson
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 22
A particle Q and a particle R are each composed of one quark and one antiquark. State the name of the class (group) of particles that includes Q and R.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 11
Which particle is not a fundamental particle? A charm quark B electron C neutrino D neutron
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statement is correct? A A baryon is a hadron and consists of 2 quarks. B A meson is a hadron and consists of 3 quarks. C An electron is a fundamental particle and is a…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 12
What is not a quark flavour? A charm B meson C strange D up
Answer this question and get it marked →How many down quarks are in a nucleus of hydrogen-3, 3/1 H? A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5
Answer this question and get it marked →An isotope of boron decays to beryllium by beta-plus emission. Which particle is emitted in addition to the beta-plus particle? A antineutrino B electron C neutrino D neutron
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 13
What is the name of the group (class) of particles containing mesons, and the name of the group (class) of particles containing baryons? group (class) of particles containing…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 22
Compare an alpha-particle with a beta-plus particle in terms of their masses and charges.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 23
Complete Table 7.1 to show the charges, in terms of the elementary charge e, on each of the flavours of quark and antiquark shown. flavour charge/e (quark) charge/e (antiquark)…
Answer this question and get it marked →February–March 2023, Paper 12
What is a conclusion from the alpha-particle scattering experiment? A Protons and electrons have equal but opposite charges. B Protons have a much larger mass than electrons. C…
Answer this question and get it marked →A top quark has a charge of +(2/3) e, where e is the elementary charge. What is the charge of an anti top quark? A -(2/3) e B -(1/3) e C +(1/3) e D +(2/3) e
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 11
A proton has mass mp and charge +e. What are the mass and charge of an antiproton? mass charge A -mp +e B -mp -e C mp +e D mp -e
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statement about a proton is correct? A A proton is a baryon but not a meson. B A proton is a meson but not a hadron. C A proton is both a hadron and a meson. D A proton is…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 12
A pi-plus meson has a charge of +e, where e is the elementary charge. It consists of an up quark and one other quark. What could be the other quark in the pi-plus meson? A…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 13
Which statement about beta-minus decay is correct? A A neutron changes to a proton in the nucleus and an electron and an antineutrino are emitted. B A neutron changes to a proton…
Answer this question and get it marked →What is the quark composition of a hydrogen-3 nucleus, 3/1 H? up down A 4 5 B 5 4 C 5 7 D 7 5
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 23
Table 7.1 shows incomplete data for three flavours (types) of quark. The elementary charge is e. Complete Table 7.1 by inserting the missing charges.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 11
Two alpha-particles with the same kinetic energy are moving towards, and are then deflected by, a gold nucleus. Which diagram could show the paths of the two alpha-particles? The…
Answer this question and get it marked →A particular hadron is composed of three quarks and has zero charge. What is a possible quark composition of the hadron? A down, down, strange B up, down, strange C up, up, down D…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 12
Which combination of up (u) and down (d) quarks forms a neutron? A u u u B u u d C u d d D d d d
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 13
Some particles are a combination of three quarks. Which combination of quarks does not result in a particle with a charge of either +1.6 x 10^-19 C or zero? A up, down, down B up,…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 22
In the following list, underline all the particles that are not fundamental. antineutrino baryon nucleon positron
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