Hadrons

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
Stuff about the subatomic partical hedron
- joe (age 13)
canton, SD, US
A:
Joe,
I think what you are refering to is hadrons. Hadrons are not a single kind of particle but instead is a large class of particles. A hadron is any sub-atomic particle made from quarks. There are two kinds of hadrons; baryons and mesons. Baryons contain three quarks while mesons contain only two quarks. The most well known examples of hadrons are the proton and the neutron. Both of these particles are baryons because they each have three quarks. Protons and neutrons make up the nuclei of all atoms. There are many more kinds of hadrons. There is the pi particle which is a meson and many others. The quarks inside the hadrons are held together by what physicists call the strong nuclear force. This force is incredibly strong but acts only over a short distance. This makes hadrons difficult to break apart.

Dan G

(published on 10/22/2007)