The Particles for iOS

By Science Photo Library Ltd. $7.99 Editors' Rating

Editors' Review

Download.com Staff Apr 3, 2013

Whether you have read every book ever written by Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Feynman, or you can't tell the difference between a proton and an electron, The Particles is an incredible app. Combining savvy design with riveting information about the nature of particle physics, The Particles is one part encyclopedia entry, one part interactive tour, and one part NOVA science hour.

The app is very much an educational tool. When you open it, you'll be presented with a menu that introduces you to particle physics, a glossary of all the terms used in the app, and an overview of the data used in the app. The main menu showcases all five types of particles - leptons, baryons, mesons, bosons, and quarks. Tap on any of the five quadrants and it will spin. Tap it again and you are given a menu for that particle including the different types that we currently know about. So if you've been reading about the Higgs Boson particle and want to know exactly what that means, tap the Boson quadrant and then the "Higgs Boson" menu option to read what it is, see the illustrations of the supercollider events, and compare it to other bosons.

The Particles is definitely an app for people with a desire to learn more about particle physics and mathematics; but even for those that may not know much about the sciences, it is presented in such a way that it is extremely accessible, fun to use, and attractive to look at. This is a very well-crafted app, filled with useful information, plenty of outside references, and none of the dense scientific jargon that tends to turn people off from science in general. A must download for anyone with an interest in particle- or astrophysics.

Full Specifications

What's new in version 1.2

Higgs Boson updates

General

Release September 13, 2013
Date Added September 13, 2013
Version 1.2

Operating Systems

Operating Systems iOS
Additional Requirements Compatible with iPad. iTunes account required.

Popularity

Total Downloads 23
Downloads Last Week 0
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Developer's Description

The Particles is the definitive interactive guide to subatomic particles and particlephysics. Have you ever wondered what particle physics is and why the Higgs Boson is so important? The Particles will help you discover in an interactive and fun way.- Discover the five families of subatomic particles - Leptons, Quarks, Bosons, Mesons, andBaryons.- Browse over 125 real particle event images and videos.- Read popular biographies of each particle, describing its nature, role, and discovery.- Hundreds of links take you to the A-Z of particle physics with its details and definitions ofkey concepts, particle detectors, laboratories, and physicists.Starting from an interactive fan design you spin and discover the five families of particles.From there you select an individual particle and are taken to its biography and images.The images range from historic cloud and bubble chamber photographs to the latest eventdisplays recorded by particle detectors at CERN, Fermilab, and other major laboratories.They are accompanied by detailed explanations which explain how the particles behave, howwe observe them, and what it all means.Also included are data tables for students or professional users, giving details on eachparticle's mass, lifetime, charge, spin, quark content, decay paths, and so on.To complete the app there are pages introducing the world of particle physics and givingexplanations of the names, symbols, and data used throughout.The Particles has been developed by Science Photo Library in partnership with leadingphysicist Professor Frank Close. It is a modern source of information on particle physics foreveryone.
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