quarks

Cultural  

1. In physics, the elementary particles that make up the protons and neutrons that in turn make up the atomic nucleus. Quarks are the most basic known constituent of matter. (See antimatter.)

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No quarks have been seen in the laboratory because, according to current theory, they cannot exist as free particles.

Example Sentences

If you kept dividing an apple into smaller and smaller pieces, you would eventually reach molecules, then atoms, and later the tiny particles inside atoms such as protons, quarks, and gluons.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

In 2017, the LHCb experiment announced that it had discovered a similar particle, made of two "charmed" quarks and one "up" quark.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

The newly discovered "Xi-cc-plus" contains two "charm" quarks and one "down" quark.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

Protons are hadrons, meaning they are made of partons, which include quarks and the gluons that hold them together.

From Science Daily • Jan. 5, 2026

Then, as the universe expanded and cooled, the antiquarks would annihilate with the quarks, but since there would be more quarks than antiquarks, a small excess of quarks would remain.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking