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The Strong Force: Smaller
The Strong Force: Smaller
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Before actually talking about these forces Id like to mention a few things. Every one
of these forces has a particle called the force carrier that causes the interactions
that I will describe. For understanding the nuclear forces, it is important to have an
idea of what quarks are. Quarks make up fundamental constituents of matter along
with leptons because as far as we know, they cannot be divided further into smaller
particles. Quarks are of six types (or flavors - sciences way to kill boredom) as
shown in the image below.
The color force is a term given because quarks can be represented by anyone of the
three colors Red, Blue, and Green based on the quantum states that the quarks
exist in at a given time. Protons and Neutrons, however, have no color which implies
that the colors of the quarks cancel each other out, kind of like how when you add
red, blue, and green light in a pixel you get white
Quarks are constantly changing color by exchanging particles called gluons the
force carriers of the strong force among themselves. Gluons are mass less
particles that have no electric charge, but they too have the property of color. The
way the system works is that as the gluon moved between the quarks, it changes
the color of the quark that it leaves and the quark that it goes to in order to keep
the hadrons always color neutral. This helps to bind the quarks in a manner which is
to say the least, eccentric. The Gluon interactions among the quarks seem to create
a rubber band like effect and the farther a quark gets from the others, inside the
hadron, the stronger this color force gets and maintains the arrangement of the
quarks and thus the stability of the hadron.
The nuclear force is a slightly weaker reminiscent of the effects of the color force
process. In my opinion a relationship describes the nuclear force quite well. When
you get too close to one another, barging into their personal space, there is a strong
repulsion among individuals, but when you get too far apart, you seemed to be
pulled together more strongly because you feel the need to be around each other
but Im not one to speak since I dont have experience. The same happens with
protons and neutrons inside the nucleus of an atom. The gluons being exchanged
among quarks involves a very large amount of energy that forms another type of
particle which also acts as a force carrier a Pion which is made up of two quarks
(top and bottom quarks) that essentially allow the color force to be exerted between
the protons and neutrons as Pion interactions also allow for change in the quantum
states or colors of the quarks inside these hadrons. Albeit this is a scaled down
version.
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is intuitively divided into the electrostatic and magnetic forces
but they are in fact the same thing. What actually happens is that there are
exchanges in the force carriers that behave slightly differently than other force
carriers. They have both electric and magnetic properties. These force carriers are
also called photons (phew finally something weve all heard of before!).
Electromagnetism is the second strongest force and is usually recorded to be 1/137
times the strength of the strong force.
Lets start with the electrostatic force. This essentially describes the build-up of
charge, its movement, and the forces experienced by these charges when placed
around each other (in their respective electric fields). This explains why electrons
arent free roaming particles they are very strongly attracted to the protons in the
nucleus. The electrostatic force between two charges is strongest when the charges
are large in magnitude and have a small distance between them as described in
Coulombs Law. Photons come into play as they carry the electrostatic force
between the charges as they constantly move between and interact with them.
Electricity is the flow of an electron stream from a negatively charged source to a
positively charged destination and this actually creates a magnetic field! So
moving on!
Magnetism arises because of something called a domain. Day to day materials
have very haphazardly arranged domains but magnets have very organized
domains as their direction is very well defined. This actually happens because when
current is passed through a conductor, the domain directions are rearranged and
thus the flow of electrons creates a magnetic field. The opposite also holds true as
when conducting substance is constantly moved in inside a magnetic field, it
creates an electric current, which is how we have made generators to create
electricity.