What are the fundamental particles of matter?

The fundamental particles of matter are quarks and leptons.

Quarks and leptons are the building blocks of matter. Quarks are the smallest particles that make up protons and neutrons, which are found in the nucleus of an atom. There are six different types of quarks: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom. Each quark has a unique set of properties, such as mass, charge, and spin.

Leptons, on the other hand, are particles that do not interact with the strong nuclear force. There are six types of leptons: electron, muon, tau, electron neutrino, muon neutrino, and tau neutrino. The electron is the most well-known lepton, as it is the particle that carries electric current in wires.

In addition to quarks and leptons, there are also force-carrying particles called bosons. These particles mediate the interactions between quarks and leptons. The most well-known boson is the photon, which carries the electromagnetic force.

The study of these fundamental particles and their interactions is known as particle physics. Understanding the properties and behaviour of these particles is crucial to our understanding of the universe and the fundamental laws of nature.