Quarks and anti quarks

what are the 6 types of quarks?

up (u), down (d), strange (s), top (t), bottom (b). charm (c)

What are the similarities and differences between quarks and antiquarks

Differ:

Antiquark’s have opposite electric charge/baryon number/colour charge

Similarities:

Both fundamental particles

Both experience the strong force

Same mass

EQ: antiquakrs and quarks both are fundamental forces which experience the strong interaction and have the same mass, but, have opposite electric charge and baryon number and colour charge

What is colour charge?

Colour charge is a property of quarks and gluons that causes them to experience the strong nuclear force

What are the three types of colour charge?

Red, green and blue (with corresponding anticolours: antired, antigreen and antiblue)

Which particles have colour charge?

Quarks and gluons

What are gluons and what do they carry?

Gluons are the exchange particle of the strong interaction (nuclear force) only affect hadrons. They carry a colour and an anticolour (e.g. red-antigreen) - therefore means gluons can change the colour of a quark DURING interactions

What does it mean for a particle to be colour neutral (colourless)?

It means the combination of colour charges cancels out so that particles has no net colour charge

Why can’t we observe isolated quarks?

Because of colour confinement - quarks are always bound together in colour-neutral combinations like baryons and mesons

How are colours combined in a baryon (like a proton/neutron)?

1 red, 1 green and 1 blue quark combine to form a colour-neutral particle

How are colours combined in a meson?

A quark and its corresponding antiquark (e.g. red + antired) form a colour-neutral particle

How do gluons cause the strong force?

Gluons are constantly exchanged between quarks, creating a powerful attraction pulls them together

What happens if you try to separate quarks completely?

The energy in the gluon field becomes so large that it creates a new quark- anti quark pair.(Quarks never exist alone- quark confinement)

Energy can turn into matter according to einsteins equation E=mc²

How does the strong force act between quarks?

Via the exchange of gluons; the force becomes stronger with separation unti quark anti quark pairing.

Quarks are never still and always:

Exchanging gluons with each other

Swapping energy and momentum

Changing colour charge

What is the role of gluons in quark interactions

Gluons are the carriers of the strong force, resolve colour exchange between quarks, binding them into hadrons and carrying colour charge themselves

How are mesons formed from quark-antiquark pairs?

A quark and an antiquark bind via the strong interaction (carried by gluons) to form a meson; their colours are complementary (e.g. red + anti red producing colourless particles