Three reaction rows show why charge, baryon number, and lepton families must all close.
Three reaction rows show why charge, baryon number, and lepton families must all close. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.
highlighted = computed this step
Muon decay closes both family ledgers
The accepted muon row keeps scaled charge -3, electron-family total 0, and muon-family total 1 on both sides.
−301⇒1
Electron to photons fails lepton number
The electron row starts with scaled charge -3 and electron-family number 1, while two photons total 0 and 0.
−3=01=0
Proton decay closes charge but not baryon number
The proton row keeps scaled charge 3 on both sides, but scaled baryon number changes from 3 to 0.