Why Electron Neutrinos Arrive as Muons
How does a particle change flavor on the way here?
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Question 1 of 2How many flavors of neutrino are there?
The story
Billions of tiny neutrinos zip out of the Sun every second and race through everything, even Quarky. Scientists expected one flavor to arrive, but caught a different one instead! Neutrinos travel as a blend of flavors mixed together like a smoothie, and the blend keeps sloshing as they fly. By the time they reach Earth, the flavor you catch may be a totally different one.
What you'll learn
- Neutrinos are super tiny particles that barely touch anything
- They come in three flavors: electron, muon and tau
- A neutrino travels as a mix of flavors at once
- The mix oscillates, so the flavor changes along the way
- Solving this puzzle won scientists a Nobel Prize
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