DP IB Physics: SL

Topic Questions

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2014

Last exams 2024

|

7.3 The Structure of Matter

1
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Using conservation of charge, determine which of the following is the correct quark composition of a proton?

  • sss

  • uud

  • ddd

  • uds

Did this page help you?

2
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the following particles has a baryon number of zero?

  • antineutron

  • neutron

  • kaon

  • proton

Did this page help you?

3
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Beta-minus decay can be represented in terms of fundamental particles

d rightwards arrow u plus e to the power of minus plus X

What type of particle is particle X?

  • quark

  • photon

  • lepton

  • hadron

Did this page help you?

4
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the following is a meson?

  • u d d

  • stack u d s with bar on top

  • nu subscript e

  • u d with bar on top

Did this page help you?

5
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the following was not an observation made by the Rutherford-Geiger-Marsden experiment?

  • Most of the α-particles went straight through the foil

  • Some α-particles deflected through small angles of less than 10°

  • Only a small number of α-particles deflected straight back at angles greater than 90°

  • The gold foil emits alpha particles

Did this page help you?

6
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the following is a correct statement about Feynman diagrams?

  • The vertical axis represents time

  • Gauge bosons are represented by a wavy/dashed line, or a helix

  • Only three particles may go into or out of a vertex

  • Particle lines can cross over

Did this page help you?

7
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the following is not conserved during weak interactions?

  • Baryon number

  • Lepton number

  • Strangeness

  • Charge

Did this page help you?

8
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The Feynman diagram shows a particle interaction involving a W+ boson.

7-3-atomic-nuclear--particle-physics-sl-mcqs-easy-q8-question

Which two particles are the products of the interaction?

  • Q and S

  • P and Q

  • P and S

  • R and S

Did this page help you?

9
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The standard model classifies particles into hadrons, leptons, mesons and baryons. The diagram below shows some examples of these types of particles.

7-3-atomic-nuclear--particle-physics-sl-mcqs-easy-q9-question-1

Which row shows the correct position of each type of particle in the diagram?

 

Hadrons

Baryons

Leptons

Mesons

A

1

2

3

4

B

2

4

1

3

C

4

3

2

1

D

3

1

4

2

Did this page help you?

10
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which answer is not a feature of the strong nuclear force?

  • The strong nuclear force is repulsive at nucleon separations closer than around 0.5 fm

  • The strong nuclear force is attractive up to around 3.0 fm

  • The strong nuclear force has an infinite range

  • The strong nuclear force reaches a maximum attractive value at around 1.0 fm

Did this page help you?

1
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The diagram is an example of a ‘baryon decuplet’. Baryons are organised along horizontal and diagonal axes, as shown in the diagram below.

7-3-sl-mcq-hard-q1-phy

What is the quark structure of the straight capital xi to the power of asterisk times minus end exponent bayron?

  • u with bar on top s

  • u s s

  • d s s

  • u d s

Did this page help you?

2
Sme Calculator
1 mark

A collision between particles creates 4 mesons:

s u with bar on top space plus space d s with bar on top space plus space X space plus space Y

The overall charge and strangeness of the 4 mesons is zero.

What are possible quark combinations for X and Y?

 

X

Y

A

d u with bar on top s d with bar on top

B

u s with bar on top u d with bar on top

C

s s with bar on top u d with bar on top

D

u s with bar on top s s with bar on top

Did this page help you?

3
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The capital sigma to the power of 0 baryon has strangeness of −1 and is produced through the strong interaction between a pi to the power of plus meson and a neutron.

 pi to the power of plus space plus space n space rightwards arrow space capital sigma to the power of 0 space plus space X

What is the quark composition of particle X?

  • u s with bar on top

  • u u d

  • u d with bar on top

  • u u s

Did this page help you?

4
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Particles can be organised in a plot known as the ‘eightfold way’, as shown in the diagram below. 

7-3-sl-mcq-hard-q4-phy

What are the quark compositions of Σ+, Σ, Ξ0 and Ξ?

 

Σ+

Σ

Ξ0

Ξ

A

 u u s  d d s  u d s  d s s

B

 u u d  d s s  u d d  d d d

C

 u u s  d d s  u s s  d s s

D

 u u d  d d d  u s s  d d s

Did this page help you?

5
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The K is an example of a meson with strangeness –1.

Which of the following combinations of particles could the K particle decay to?

  • pi to the power of plus plus pi to the power of minus plus e to the power of minus

  • pi to the power of 0 plus pi to the power of minus plus n

  • pi to the power of minus plus e to the power of minus plus space v with bar on top subscript e

  • pi to the power of 0 plus mu to the power of minus plus v with bar on top subscript mu

Did this page help you?

6
Sme Calculator
1 mark

Which of the four hadrons shown could be Ξ0?

7-3-sl-mcq-hard-q6-phy

Did this page help you?

7
Sme Calculator
1 mark

None of the following decay equations for baryons are permitted. 

Equation 1: n rightwards arrow p plus ⅇ to the power of minus plus v subscript e

Equation 2: capital delta to the power of plus rightwards arrow pi to the power of plus plus pi to the power of 0

Equation 3:  p rightwards arrow n plus e to the power of minus plus space v subscript e

Equation 4: identical to to the power of 0 rightwards arrow p plus v with bar on top plus pi to the power of 0

Which property is not conserved in each equation?

 

Equation 1

Equation 2

Equation 3

Equation 4

A

charge

baryon number

charge and lepton number

baryon number

B

lepton number

baryon number

charge and lepton number

charge and lepton number

C

baryon number

lepton number

baryon number

lepton number and baryon number

D

lepton number

charge

charge

charge

Did this page help you?

8
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The charmed sigma particle, straight capital sigma subscript straight c superscript plus plus end superscript decays through the following equation:

straight capital sigma subscript straight c superscript plus plus end superscript rightwards arrow straight capital lambda subscript straight c superscript plus plus straight pi to the power of plus

Both straight capital sigma subscript straight c superscript plus plus end superscript and straight capital lambda subscript straight c superscript plus contain one charm quark and have strangeness of 0.

Which of the following could be the quark structure of the straight capital sigma subscript straight c superscript plus plus end superscript and the straight capital lambda subscript straight c superscript plus?

 

bold capital sigma subscript bold c superscript bold plus bold plus end superscript

bold capital lambda subscript bold c superscript bold plus

A

d d c u with bar on top c

B

u d c d s c

C

u u c u d c

D

u d c u u c

Did this page help you?

9
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The following Feynman diagram shows the baryons and leptons in a nuclear decay

7-3-sl-mcq-hard-q9-phy

Which of the four Feynman diagrams, A to D, is physically equivalent to the diagram given for this decay?

7-3-sl-mcq-hard-q9_2-phy

Did this page help you?

10
Sme Calculator
1 mark

The Higgs Boson was discovered at CERN in 2012. It is not stable and decays into other particles.

Which of the following could not be a possible decay pathway for the Higgs Boson?

  • W to the power of plus plus W to the power of minus

  • p plus e to the power of minus plus nu subscript e

  • gamma gamma

  • b b with bar on top

Did this page help you?

11 mark

The decay of a capital sigma to the power of plus baryon is given by the equation

 capital sigma to the power of plus rightwards arrow X plus p

Which row, A to D in the table, correctly identifies the charge, baryon number and lepton number of particle X?

 

Charge

Baryon number

Lepton number

A.

–1

0

0

B.

0

0

0

C.

1

1

0

D.

0

–1

1

Did this page help you?

21 mark

Which row in the table gives the correct quark combination for the particle?

 

particle

category

quark combination

A. proton baryon u d d
B. positive pion meson u top enclose d
C. neutron meson u d d
D. negative pion meson u top enclose d

Did this page help you?

31 mark

This Feynman diagram shows particles interacting via a Wboson.

q13_the-structure-of-matter_ib-sl-physics-mcq

Which of the following particle choices are correct?

 

1

2

3

4

A.

proton

neutron

electron neutrino

β particle

B.

neutron

proton

electron neutrino

β particle

C.

up quark

down quark

β particle

anti–electron neutrino

D.

down quark

up quark

anti–electron neutrino

β particle

Did this page help you?

41 mark

The decay of a neutral kaon K to the power of 0 is given by the equation

 K to the power of 0 rightwards arrow X plus Y plus v with bar on top subscript e

What must particles X and Y be?

  • pi to the power of plus and e to the power of minus

  • pi minus and e to the power of plus

  • mu to the power of plus and e to the power of minus

  • pi to the power of plus and mu to the power of minus

Did this page help you?

51 mark

A pion can decay to produce two leptons.

Which of the following reactions is possible?

  • pi to the power of 0 rightwards arrow mu to the power of plus plus nu subscript e

  • pi to the power of 0 rightwards arrow pi to the power of plus plus mu to the power of minus

  • pi to the power of plus rightwards arrow e to the power of plus plus nu subscript mu

  • pi to the power of plus rightwards arrow mu to the power of plus plus nu subscript mu

Did this page help you?

61 mark

This Feynman diagram shows particles interacting leading to the production of a β+ particle.

q16_the-structure-of-matter_ib-sl-physics-mcq

Which of the following particle choices are correct?

 

1

2

3

4

A.

proton

neutrino

W+  boson

neutron

B.

up quark

antineutrino

W+   boson

down quark

C.

proton

neutrino

W-   boson

neutron

D.

up quark

antineutrino

 W-  boson

down quark

Did this page help you?

71 mark

Which row in the table, A to D, includes a valid particle for every column?

 

Stable

Interacts via weak force

Interacts via electromagnetic force

Interacts via strong force

A.

antiproton

muon

proton

neutrino

B.

proton

electron

muon

neutron

C.

electron

proton

neutron

proton

D.

kaon

neutron

electron

pion

Did this page help you?

81 mark

The following Feynman diagram shows the baryons and leptons in a nuclear decay.

q18_the-structure-of-matter_ib-sl-physics-mcq

Which of the four Feynman diagrams, A to D, is physically equivalent to the diagram given for this decay?

q18-2_the-structure-of-matter_ib-sl-physics-mcq

Did this page help you?

91 mark

In the Geiger–Marsden experiment, alpha particles are used to investigate scattering by gold atoms.

What do the results of the experiment provide evidence for?

  • charge is distributed evenly throughout an atom

  • the nucleus is comprised of protons and neutrons

  • alpha particles have discrete amounts of kinetic energy

  • most of the mass and all of the positive charge of an atom is contained in a small volume

Did this page help you?

101 mark

Which of the following statements correctly describes why quarks were first hypothesised?

  • To account for patterns in properties of elementary particles

  • To describe nuclear emission and absorption spectra

  • To account for the missing energy and momentum in beta decay

  • To explain the existence of isotopes

Did this page help you?