Question: If a current can be defined as the flow of electrons through a medium, what implications does the discovery of sub-electron particles (i.e. Quarks) have for how we will store and manipulate electricity in the future? Could we alter the behavior of electrons?

Jemma Rowlandson answered on 27 Jan 2017:

I don’t think so, although I am not a physicist. I don’t think this will be the case mainly because generating electrons is much easier than generating elementary particles. We can generate electricity either mechanically using turbines or chemically using devices such as batteries. In the first we induce a flow of electrons by moving a magnet in a coil of wire (electromagnetic induction). In the second, atoms inside our battery loose electrons, which travel around our circuit. The electrons in both cases come from atoms, which give them up easily. To have a flow of a particle like a quark, the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom itself would have to break apart, which would involve us putting a lot of energy in to the process. So I don’t think sub-atomic particles will have a bearing on how we make and store electricity, because we will be using electrons.

As for the electrons, we cannot alter their fundamental behaviour. However we can understand it, and use this understanding to do things like generate electricity and make chemicals.