Thanks for the comment. I am glad you enjoyed the quiz.
I appreciate your suggestion regarding 'gamma', but within physics, the 'γ' is used to describe photons as a whole and not merely gamma rays (the 1905 discovery of photons by Einstein should be sufficient to lead to 'photons', while gamma rays—discovered by Rutherford in 1900 and which, admittedly, also use the 'γ' symbol—are not a larger class of elementary subatomic particles).
An alpha particle is subatomic in that it is smaller than at atom, being a composite particle (a doubly ionized helium nucleus). It is true that 'alpha particle' is not defined especially rigorously, but for the purposes of this quiz (and Rutherford's discovery/Rutherford and Royds' proof in 1907), an alpha particle is subatomic.
This quiz might be the best on JetPunk about subatomic particles, and certainly the most educational, due to your historical presentation. Thank you.
I have some suggestions for improvement. First, the standard model includes two particles you've left out:
- tau-minus: elementary(lepton) 1975 Perl
- gluon: elementary(boson) 1978
In two cases, 1905(Einstein) and 1964(Gell-Mann), you're conflating a successful model with experimental discovery. I suggest using only experimental discovery, as there are many other successful models you did not include. So
- gamma: elementary(boson) 1902 Lenard
- u: elementary(quark) 1968
- d: ... 1968
- s: ... 1947
Wikipedia lists discovery of the pi as Chowdhuri and Bose 1942. I've noticed this is a point of cultural pride among some people of South Asian extraction, so I strongly suggest you fix this.
Finally, many physical properties are quantized, so for gamma,W,Z,g,H-zero I suggest restricting their labels to elementary(boson).
I appreciate your suggestion regarding 'gamma', but within physics, the 'γ' is used to describe photons as a whole and not merely gamma rays (the 1905 discovery of photons by Einstein should be sufficient to lead to 'photons', while gamma rays—discovered by Rutherford in 1900 and which, admittedly, also use the 'γ' symbol—are not a larger class of elementary subatomic particles).
I have some suggestions for improvement. First, the standard model includes two particles you've left out:
- tau-minus: elementary(lepton) 1975 Perl
- gluon: elementary(boson) 1978
In two cases, 1905(Einstein) and 1964(Gell-Mann), you're conflating a successful model with experimental discovery. I suggest using only experimental discovery, as there are many other successful models you did not include. So
- gamma: elementary(boson) 1902 Lenard
- u: elementary(quark) 1968
- d: ... 1968
- s: ... 1947
Wikipedia lists discovery of the pi as Chowdhuri and Bose 1942. I've noticed this is a point of cultural pride among some people of South Asian extraction, so I strongly suggest you fix this.
Finally, many physical properties are quantized, so for gamma,W,Z,g,H-zero I suggest restricting their labels to elementary(boson).