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A quark (/ k w ɔːr k, k w ɑːr k /) is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. [1] All commonly observable matter is composed of up quarks, down quarks and electrons.
Protons, composed of two up and one down quark (uud) Neutrons, composed of two down and one up quark (ddu) Hyperons, such as the Λ, Σ, Ξ, and Ω particles, which contain one or more strange quarks, are short-lived and heavier than nucleons. Although not normally present in atomic nuclei, they can appear in short-lived hypernuclei.
Two terms are used in referring to the mass of the quarks that make up protons: current quark mass refers to the mass of a quark by itself, while constituent quark mass refers to the current quark mass plus the mass of the gluon particle field surrounding the quark. [45]: 285–286 [46]: 150–151 These masses typically have very different values
A quark may pair up with an antiquark: the quark has a color and the antiquark has the corresponding anticolor. The color and anticolor cancel out, forming a color neutral meson. Alternatively, three quarks can exist together, one quark being "red", another "blue", another "green". These three colored quarks together form a color-neutral baryon.
The colored small double circles inside are gluons. In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles.
The top quark, sometimes also referred to as the truth quark, (symbol: t) is the most massive of all observed elementary particles. It derives its mass from its coupling to the Higgs field . This coupling y t is very close to unity; in the Standard Model of particle physics , it is the largest (strongest) coupling at the scale of the weak ...
Except for the proton and neutron, all other hadrons are unstable and decay into other particles in microseconds or less. A proton is made of two up quarks and one down quark, while the neutron is made of two down quarks and one up quark. These commonly bind together into an atomic nucleus, e.g. a helium-4 nucleus is composed of two protons and ...
The up quark or u quark (symbol: u) is the lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a significant constituent of matter. It, along with the down quark , forms the neutrons (one up quark, two down quarks) and protons (two up quarks, one down quark) of atomic nuclei .