• Question: when we split an atom, we found protons, electrons and neutrons. so what would happen if we split them or is it phisically impossible?

    Asked by lauranorder to Lily on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Lily Asquith

      Lily Asquith answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      It is possible, that is what we are doing at the Large Hadron Collider!

      We collide protons which causes them to break up. Protons are made of two ‘up’ quarks and a ‘down’ quark, neutrons are made of two ‘down’ quarks and an ‘up’ quark. The quarks are held together by particles called gluons (they act kind of like glue).

      There are also particle+antiparticle pairs popping in and out of existence all the time inside the proton. The other four kinds of quark are called:

      the strange quark
      the charm quark
      the bottom or beauty quark
      the top or truth quark

      These are really funny names, I know. They were named by a bunch of hippies in the 1960s and 70s 😉

      At the moment we think that is where it stops: quarks are fundamental and cannot be broken down into anything else (the same is true for electrons).

      But if we are wrong, we will find out at the LHC in the next couple of years.

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