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The Nobel Prize in Physics 1988

The four forces

 

There are four fundamental forces acting in nature: the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong and the weak force. If one compares the strength of the different forces, setting the gravitational force at 1, the proportion becomes:

  the gravitational force 1
  the weak force 1031
  the electromagnetic force 1036
  the strong force 1038

The gravitational force acts on macroscopic objects like man, the earth, the sun, but because of its minute strength it is completely uninteresting for elementary particles. The electromagnetic force is 100 000 times stronger than the weak force and the strong force is 10 million times stronger than the weak force. The weak force acts between all particles (except the photon which is the carrier of the electromagnetic force) and results in the decay of many different particles. In order to exclusively study the effect of the weak force, it is necessary that the other two, completely dominating forces, are not active. The electromagnetic force acts between charged particles. The strong force acts between hadrons, a group of particles constructed of quarks.
    The best way to study the weak force is with the help of the neutrino.

 

 

Introduction  »
The hunt for the muon neutrino
 »
The neutrino »
The weak force »
The four forces »
Leptons and quarks »
Further Reading  »

The 1988 Prize in: