• Question: Why do we have the set of particles that we have?

    Asked by lewiiboii to Daniela, Hannah, Ian, Jono, Mark on 16 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Ian Wilson

      Ian Wilson answered on 16 Jun 2013:

      Hi lewiiboii,

      I think you’ve just asked one of the most fundamental questions in life there! At the moment, nobody knows this – we know a bit about how they interact with one another but we don’t know why they exist in the way they do. Hopefully, the work at the Large Hadron Collider (I think I gave you a link to its website in my answer to your other question) will take us a step closer to finding out.

      Sorry there’s no answer to your question – but hey, if we knew everything then there’d be no need for scientists! 😉

      Cheers,

      Ian

    • Photo: Mark Hodson

      Mark Hodson answered on 16 Jun 2013:

      Hi Lewiiboii,

      as Ian says, an interesting question. I’ll answer it a different way. Scientists never answer the question “Why”? we answer the question “How”?

      So scientists are trying to find out how the particles we have formed and how they interact.

      Why we have them is a question that takes you into the realm of philosophy and ultimately I suspect that we will never know!

      cheers

      m

    • Photo: Hannah Brotherton

      Hannah Brotherton answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Hi Lewiiboii,
      I love how curious you……this question is the best example of how a scientist thinks. Asking questions that everyone wants to know but no one does. No one knows why we have the particles that we do, we don’t even know all the particles in the world. By asking the question why do we have the particles that we have, is like asking why do we exist…..because humans, animals and the world are made up of particles. In the human brain there are 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (7 octillion) atoms and the electricity that shoots around our brain that allows us to store memories is made up of 4,165,672,900,000,000,000,000,000,000,…
      0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,…
      0,000,000,000,000,000,000
      electrons ( I can’t even pronounce that number). But why are these particles here….how did they come together in the first place, how were they made, and was it by chance that they allowed the earth to form, to create animals, to create the human brain?? There are a lot of whys and hows that still need to be answered, but one day someone will be able to give you that answer 😀

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