Final answer:
The distance traveled by higher mass particles as compared to lower mass ones depends on various contextual factors, including their speed and interactions with fields like the Higgs field.
Step-by-step explanation:
The distance that higher mass particles travel compared to those of lower mass depends on various factors such as their speed, their interaction with fields, and the context of their movement. Considering the Higgs field, more massive particles interact more with the field compared to less massive ones, which implies that they might acquire mass through their stronger interaction with this field according to the standard model of particle physics. In a particle accelerator, particles quickly achieve speeds approaching the speed of light. Despite maintaining constant velocity, their kinetic energy continues to increase due to an increase in their mass as predicted by relativity. Furthermore, if we consider particles such as alpha (α) particles and beta (β) particles emitted from radioactive sources, their travel speed and mass significantly affect their range. A β particle, being thousands of times less massive than an α particle, must travel much faster to have the same energy, hence it spends less time interacting with surrounding atoms or molecules. Gamma rays (γ), being massless photons, must travel at the speed of light, and they interact even less than β particles.