Muons and Mesons are both subatomic particles. Muons belong to the lepton family Mesons to the hadron family of subatomic particles.
Mesons have a pair of quark and anti-quark particles, whereas muons do not.
They are fundamental particles with no substructure.
Muons are fermions that are categorized as leptons.
Muons are unstable subatomic particles, however, they are members of the lepton family.
When cosmic rays hit the Earth’s upper atmosphere, they produce a shower of fundamental particles, including muons.
Muons exist in two states: negatively charged particles and positively charged antiparticles.
The mass of a meson is always less than the mass of a proton since if the mass of a meson is more than the mass of a proton, and it will decay into a more stable particle.
The pion and the kaon are the two most prevalent forms of mesons in interactions.
Mesons are all unstable particles. Aside from that, charged meson particles decay, producing electrons and neutrinos.
Uncharged mesons, on the other hand, produce photons that decay. A meson has a spin of 1.
Key Takeaways
- Muons are elementary particles, similar to electrons but heavier, and play a role in particle physics experiments.
- Mesons are composite particles consisting of quarks and antiquarks and are involved in the strong nuclear force.
- Both muons and mesons are unstable and decay into other particles, with muons having a longer mean lifetime than mesons.
Muons vs Mesons
Muons is a subatomic particles. Its size is similar to the size of an electron. Its lifetime is 2.2 microseconds. These particles have no substructure. Muons are slow because of their large mass. Mesons are also subatomic particles made up of pair of quark and anti-quark. They are unstable, and their lifetime is hundredth microseconds.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of comparison | Muons | Mesons |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Size of electron | 1.2 times the size of a proton |
| Spin | 1/2 | 0,1 |
| Composition | No substructure | Quarks and anti-quarks |
| Category | Elementary particle | Hadronic subatomic particle |
| Lifespan | About 2.2 microseconds | A few hundredths of a microsecond |
What are Muons?
They are fundamental particles with no substructure. Muons are fermions that are categorized as leptons.
Muons were previously known as mu mesons, however current particle physicists do not consider them to be mesons.
They have the same negative charge as electrons but a far larger mass, approximately 200 times heavier.
Muons move slower than electrons in electromagnetic fields due to their larger mass.
Muons are unstable subatomic particles, however, they are members of the lepton family. Muons have a lifecycle of less than a microsecond.
When cosmic rays hit the Earth’s upper atmosphere, they produce a shower of fundamental particles, including muons. They spontaneously decay into electrons, positrons, and some neutrinos.
They have a -1 electrical charge and a 12 spin.
Nonetheless, this particle never interacts strongly with nuclei or other particles.
Muons exist in two states: negatively charged particles and positively charged antiparticles. The antiparticle has the same spin and mass as the particle but the opposite charge.
Furthermore, these particles are unstable, with a mean lifespan of roughly 2.2 seconds. It does, however, have a significantly longer lifetime than other subatomic particles.
What are Mesons?
The name meson comes from the Greek word “mesos”, which means intermediate.
Mesons are unstable hadron subatomic particles made up of a quark and an anti-quark pair.
Mesons have a higher mass than electrons but a lower mass than protons or neutrons.
This means that the mass of a meson is always less than that of a proton since if the mass of a meson is more than that of a proton, it will decay into a more stable particle.
A meson is a mass midway between an electron and a proton. The pion and the kaon are the two most prevalent forms of mesons in interactions.
Strong interactions hold these couples together inside the particle. A meson has a spin of 1.
Mesons are all unstable particles. Their lifespan is only a few 100th of a microsecond.
Aside from that, charged meson particles decay, producing electrons and neutrinos. Uncharged mesons, on the other hand, produce photons that decay.
Each meson has an equivalent anti-meson in which antiquarks and vice versa replace quarks. Due to that, they are found in triplet and singlet spin states.
Main differences Between Muons and Mesons
- Mesons are about 1.2 times the size of a proton, while muons are about the size of an electron.
- Muons have half spin, while Mesons have a spin of 0 or 1
- Mesons are hadrons that will never decay into protons or any particles that may decay into a proton. Muons, unlike mesons, decay spontaneously into electrons, positrons, and some neutrinos.
- Muons have a lifespan of roughly a microsecond, whereas mesons have a lifetime of a few hundredths of a microsecond.
- Muons are fundamental particles with no substructure. Muons are fermions that are categorized as leptons.
- Mesons are unstable hadron subatomic particles made up of a quark and an anti-quark pair.
- Muons are elementary particles, while Mesons are hadronic sub-atomic particles.
Last Updated : 28 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
