What are some examples of the particles in a baryon?

1 Answer
May 16, 2017

Neutron: Two down quarks and one up quark
Proton: Two up quarks and one down quark
Lambda: One up quark, one down quark, and one strange quark

Explanation:

Baryonic particles link the extremely small to the super massive. A baryon is subatomic particle made of three quarks. Quarks have six "flavors": up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom. How these quarks are combined give us composite subatomic particles. For example, two ups and one down quark, form a proton. Two downs and an up quark, make a neutron. Baryons react to all four fundamental forces: weak force, strong force, gravity, and electromagnetic radiation. Because baryons react to electromagnetic radiation, we can observe them directly using light. Other baryons that are heavier or excited states of quarks include lambda, sigma, and xi.