strange quark

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a quark having electric charge −1/3 times the elementary charge and strangeness −1; it is more massive than the up and down quarks.

---

strange quark Scientific  

1. A quark with an electric charge of −1/3 and a mass of 391 electron masses, greater than that of the up quark and down quark, but smaller than that of other quarks. The presence of a strange quark contributes strangeness of −1 to the physical system containing it, while a strange antiquark contributes strangeness of +1.

2. See Table at subatomic particle

---

Etymology

Origin of strange quark

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Crucially, measurements of this decay let us study how one type of fundamental particle, a beauty quark, can transform into another, the strange quark.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

Two sets of similar but heavier particles can pop into brief existence: the muon, muon neutrino, charm quark, and strange quark; and the tau, tau neutrino, top quark, and bottom quark.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2024

Lambda particles are baryons, which means they’re a type of hadron made of three quarks: one up quark, one down quark and one strange quark.

From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2023

Furthermore, the strange quark can be changed by the weak force, too, making s → u and s → d possible.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

In fact, one of them is actually called "the strange quark".

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2015