Physics Question #1493

David, a 26 year old male from Montreal asks on July 10, 2003,

Is my counting right?: There are 76 elementary particles in the standard model: 6 leptons + 6 anti-leptons, 6 quarks + 6 anti-quarks, 8 gluons which are their own antiparticles, 3 weak bosons (W+, W-, Z), 1 photon + 1 graviton + 1 Higgs boson (which are their own antiparticles?), All doubled to account for their supersymetric counterparts. Did I forget anything?

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The answer

Jeremy Whitlock answered on September 2, 2003

In short, the Standard Model describes the world in terms of 6 quarks, 6 leptons, their respective anti-matter particles, and the force carriers that hold everything together -- as wonderfully explained in the excellent Particle Adventure website (from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)

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