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What is the World Made of? Lepton Decay Quiz ![]()
Which lepton decays are possible? Why or why not?
Yes! Charge, tau number, electron number, and energy are all conserved.
No! Muon number is not conserved. A muon has a muon number of 1, and thus the right side of the decay equation has muon number 1, but the left side has muon number of 0. Now try a tricky one:
No! Surprise! Although electron and muon numbers are both conserved, energy is not conserved. A muon has a lot more mass than an electron, and a lepton cannot decay into something more massive than it started out! |