Question: what would happen if a particle exploded?

Edoardo Vescovi answered on 18 Jun 2019: last edited 17 Jun 2019 11:52 pm

A “decay” happens when a particle splits into two or more. Does it look like a firecracker with bang and smoke? Not really: let’s see two examples together.
1) Atoms are “non-fundamental” particles because of an internal structure. Indeed, they contain a nucleus full of protons and neutrons. Not that compact for those nuclei that split into lighter nuclei. Uranium splits into krypton and barium. You find these labeled as “U”, “Kr” and “Ba” in the chemists’ periodic table (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table#/media/File:Simple_Periodic_Table_Chart-en.svg). All these move so fast to boil water, which nuclear power plants use to produce electricity.
2) Let’s choose a “fundamental” particle now, which is not made of smaller parts. Muons are the heavier cousins of atoms’ electrons and sit in the physicists’ Standard Model table (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model#/media/File:Standard_Model_of_Elementary_Particles.svg). While falling down from the sky, they don’t really split, rather suddenly disappear and create a shower of very fast electrons and neutrinos through our bodies.
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In conclusion, “exploding” particles release energetic lighter particles, but no bang or smoke. Sound would be produced by vibrations of air molecules, smoke by their chemical combinations with other molecules (of gasoline for example). But air molecules are much bigger than uranium atoms (1) and muons (2), so they cannot be bugged by those tiny “explosions”.