What is Quarks and Leptons ?
Answers
Quarks (named by Nobel prize-winner Murray Gell-Mann after a quote in the book "Finnegan's Wake" by James Joyce) and leptons are currently believed to be the most fundamental particles that exist; that is, they cannot be broken down into further constituent particles. Quarks and leptons are also not themselves particles; rather, they refer to families of particles, each containing six members. The quark family of particles consists of up, down, top, bottom, charm and strange particles, while leptons consist of the electron, electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau and tau neutrino particles. There are also antiparticles associated with each particle, the antiparticle being the mirror opposite of the corresponding particle (e.g. having the opposite charge).