![]() ![]() Neutrinos don't interact at all with the strong nuclear force that binds atomic nuclei together, but they do interact with the weak force that controls radioactive decay. To put that into context, neutrinos are about ten-thousand times less massive than electrons. (An electronvolt is the amount of kinetic energy acquired by an electron when it is accelerated through a potential difference of one volt.) While it might at first seem strange to be measuring mass using units of energy, Albert Einstein showed us how mass and energy are two sides of the same coin (as described by his famous equation, E = mc^2), and extremely small particle masses are often given in eV because the kilogram conversion is so tiny ( 0.8eV is about 1.4 x 10^–36 kg). ![]() At KATRIN, the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment in Germany, scientists were able to measure the upper limit of the neutrino mass to be 0.8 electronvolts, or eV. And while the neutrino mass has yet to be precisely measured, we know it must be very small. Neutrinos have no charge they are neutral, as their name implies. What exactly are these 'ghost particles'? There are three main leptons, namely electrons, muons and tau particles, and each one has an associated neutrino and anti-neutrino. On the family tree of particles, called the Standard Model, neutrinos belong to the family of particles known as leptons. Neutrinos play crucial roles in the standard model of particle physics, in stellar physics and black holes, and even in cosmology and the nature of the Big Bang.
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