Eli5 what are quarks?
In: 7
If Atoms are the things your molecules are made of, then quarks are the things your atoms are made of.
They are the most fundamental particles in the universe, among other particles.
What they are physically are some type of vibration or excitation in their quantum field.
Similar to how the atomic particles have positive electric charges, quarks have what’s called color charge: Red, Green, or Blue. Quarks have this property where they must combine in a way that all the colors balance out either in threes: Red + Green + Blue, Anti-Red + Anti-Blue + Anti-Green, or in twos of any color + it’s anti-color.
individual quarks also have electic charge, either 2/3s of positive or 1/3 of negative. The Color charge of a quark is not related to it’s Electric charge or what type of quark it is.
Three quarks combine to form composite particles like protons and neutrons.
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