You’ve heard of electrons—they’re the negatively charged subatomic particles that swarm about the nucleus of every atom. But if you take an electron, blow it up to more than 200 times its mass and make it blink out of existence faster than a bullet can leave a gun, you’ve got a muon (pronounced not like a cow but like a kitten: myoo-on). Why is such a heavy, short-lived particle important? Scientists aren’t sure, but they have some fascinating hunches.
The Second Elementary Particle
The Modern-Day Muon
The Standard Model Of Particle Physics
Confused about the elementary particles? This video has got your back.