Lesson Plan: Positrons Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the properties of positrons, the differences between positrons and electrons, and the differences between matter and antimatter.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recall that the positron is the antiparticle of the electron,
- recall that the electron is the antiparticle of the positron,
- recall the relative and absolute charges of the positron,
- recall that an antiparticle is a particle with an opposite charge but the same mass,
- recall that when a particle and antiparticle collide, they will annihilate, producing photons,
- recall that a particle–antiparticle pair can be produced by high-energy photons,
- know the symbols for a positron.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- electric charge,
- basic atomic structure: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- neutrinos and antineutrinos,
- muons, antimuons, tauons, and antitauons,
- any quarks or antiquarks,
- nuclear decay processes.