Bosons

 

Boson is the term for a particle with a even integers as spin (0, 1, 2). Spin being the intrinsic angular momentum of a particular particle.

There are 5 different known bosons. These are gluons, photons, W- bosons, W+ bosons, and Z bosons. There is one more theorized boson, the graviton, but it has not been observed yet. Bosons are known as Force-Carrier Particles, and they act as "inbetween's" for particle interaction.

The most commonly observed boson is the photon. It is the force-carrier particle for the electromagnetic force. It is massless, has a spin of 1, has no color or electromagnetic charge, and travels at c (the speed of light).

Gluons are the next boson of importance. Gluons are the force-carrier particles for the strong nuclear force. They are also massless, chargeless, and have a spin of 1, except they do carry a specific color charge (color charge is the indicator for the strong nuclear force). Gluons exist to keep quarks together into cohesive units with a color charge of 0.

W-, W+, and Z bosons are the force-carrier particles for the weak nuclear force. Each has a specific mass, a specific electromagnetic charge and a spin of 1, but no color charge (so they do not participate in the strong force). Weak interactions are the flavor changes between particles (flavor being the specific type of particle).

The final boson is the graviton. It has theoretically not been observed due to the relative lack of energy that gravity has compared to the other forces. But it is theorized to be the force-carrier wave for gravity, and the interactions it deals with is mass and energy.