What is Fermilab? - Run II Newscasts - Analyze the Data - Online Resources - Site Outline
Searching for the Building Blocks of Matter Physicists understand that all matter is composed of a small number of fundamental particles. So far physicists have found six quarks, six leptons, four bosons and a zoo of elementary particles made from these fundamental particles. The world is made of quarks and leptons and the bosons which hold them together.
But Here's a Puzzle. Where do atoms, people, elephants get mass? No one can explain where subatomic particles get mass. This also means that we don't know where anything gets mass.
Physicists think that another particle, the Higgs boson, may be responsible for mass. The Higgs has not been observed.
The search is on, but where to look?
To describe someone, we may use gender, race, height, weight, color of hair and eyes, distinguishing characteristics, etc.
To describe a particle, physicists use characteristics such as mass, charge, spin, flavor, color.
