What are Elementary Particles?

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Fundamental particles called quarks come in six different flavors. Protons are made of two up quarks and one down quark, while neutrons contain two down quarks and one up quark.
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▼ Elementary particles are the smallest known building blocks of the universe. They are thought to have no internal structure, meaning that researchers think about them as zero-dimensional points that take up no space. Electrons are probably the most familiar elementary particles, but the  Standard Model of physics, which describes the interactions of particles and almost all forces, recognizes 10 total elementary particles.
Electrons and related particles
Electrons are the negatively charged components of atoms. While they are thought to be zero-dimensional point particles, electrons are surrounded by a cloud of other virtual particles constantly winking in and out of existence, that essentially act as part of the electron itself. Some theories have predicted that the electron has a slightly positive pole and a slightly negative pole, meaning that this cloud of virtual particles should therefore be a bit asymmetrical.
If this were the case, electrons might behave differently than their antimatter doubles, positrons, potentially explaining many mysteries about matter and antimatter. But physicists have repeatedly measured the shape of an electron and found it to be perfectly roundto the best of their knowledge, leaving them without answers for antimatter's conundrums.
The electron has two heavier cousins, called the muon and the tau. Muons can be created when high-energy cosmic rays from outer space hit the top of Earth's atmosphere, generating a shower of exotic particles. Taus are even rarer and harder to produce, as they are more than 3,400 times heavier than electrons. Neutrinos, electrons, muons and taus make up a category of fundamental particles called leptons.
Quarks and their quirkiness (▪ ▪ ▪)

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