negative muon
- noun
- /ˈnɛɡətɪv ˈmjuːɒn/
- Specialized
:
muón negativo
- The decay of a negative muon produces an electron and two types of neutrinos.
Examples
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Scientists detected a negative muon as it passed through the particle detector.
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A negative muon has a much shorter lifespan compared to an electron.
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A negative muon has a negative charge.
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The experiment detected a negative muon in the collider.
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Scientists detected a negative muon as it passed through the particle detector.
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The decay of a negative muon produces an electron and two types of neutrinos.
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In high-energy physics, a negative muon has a much shorter lifespan than an electron.
Synonyms
5
9.9
A small particle like an electron but much heavier and lasting only a very short time
An extremely small particle with negative charge that lasts about two microseconds and becomes an electron and two neutrinos
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: 'negative' (negatively charged) modifies 'muon' (a type of particle), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a muon with negative charge. Technical details like half-life and decay products are domain-specific and not inferable, but they are additional scientific facts rather than necessary to grasp the basic compositional meaning.
Etymology
Negative muon is a name made of muon and negative: muon was named after the Greek letter mu that scientists used for this particle, and negative shows it has a 'negative charge'. It is a tiny charged particle that lives a very short time and then turns into an electron and very small particles called neutrinos, so the name tells you it is a muon with a 'negative' electric charge.