Look around you. Everything you see, whether it’s a tree, your phone, or even your own body, is made up of the same fundamental particles. These particles are so tiny that we can’t see them with the naked eye. They’re called quantum particles, and they follow the strange rules of quantum mechanics. These particles are fundamental because, as far as we know, they can’t be broken down into anything smaller.

The best way to understand these particles and their interactions is through the Standard Model of particle physics. Think of this model as similar to the periodic table in chemistry. It lists all the known fundamental particles and explains how they interact through various forces. These interactions happen through what we call quantum field theories, which describe forces like the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions.

Just like elements in the periodic table, we have a variety of fundamental particles in the Standard Model. Some key players are the quarks, which come in “up” and “down” types. They combine to form protons and neutrons inside an atom’s nucleus. Quarks have a property called charge and can spin in different ways, which we label as left-handed or right-handed. Oddly enough, left-handed quarks can change into each other via the weak force, but right-handed quarks can’t.

Quarks also come in different “colors,” not visible to us but vital for their interactions via the strong force, mediated by particles called gluons. These colors keep quarks bound together in protons and neutrons. Gluons, acting somewhat like glue, hold everything together by constantly changing the quark colors.

Then we have leptons, like electrons and neutrinos. Electrons carry a negative charge, while neutrinos are neutral. Unlike quarks, leptons don’t interact via the strong force. These leptons also follow the rules of handedness, but interestingly, only left-handed neutrinos exist.

The Standard Model consists of two overall types: quarks and leptons. Quarks have different types and charges, while leptons are simpler. Altogether, we get 45 fundamental particles when considering the different generations and the types we’ve discussed so far.

We must also discuss the bosons, which are force-carrying particles. Gluons mediate the strong force, while photons handle the electromagnetic force. The weak force involves W+ and W- bosons and the neutral Z boson. Each of these plays a role in how particles interact.

But no discussion of the Standard Model is complete without mentioning the Higgs boson. Confirmed in 2012, this particle gives mass to all other massive particles through its interactions. It’s a crucial keystone of the model, except when it comes to neutrinos, whose mass remains a mystery.

In total, if you add up all the particles, including their antimatter counterparts, you get a whopping 103 particles. While the Standard Model explains much of what we see in the universe, it’s incomplete. It doesn’t cover dark matter, dark energy, or why neutrinos have mass. Other mysteries, like the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, remain unsolved.

This means there’s still plenty for budding physicists to discover. The Standard Model is an impressive achievement but leaves the door wide open for the next great discoveries in physics.