• Question: What is a quark made of?

    Asked by #DefinitelyBrian to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 13 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Hi There
      This is probably best answered by a physicist but I will tell you the little bit I know.

      A quark is an elementary particle which combines to form hadrons – the most stable hadrons are neutrons and protons which you find in atomic nuclei. Quarks are never found alone, they are only found within hadrons.
      There are six types of quark all with different properties – up, down charm, strange, top and bottom.

      As far as I know the quark is the smallest particle of matter and therefore is not made up of anything else……but I am sure there is research ongoing that could find even smaller particles.

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