When a quark emits or absorbs a gluon, the quark changes
A) its charge.
B) its color.
C) into an antiquark.
D) its mass.
E) into a fermion.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Quarks are part of the standard model of particle physics and interact through the strong force, which is mediated by gluons. When a quark emits or absorbs a gluon, it changes its color charge, a property unique to the strong force and unrelated to visual color or electric charge. This color change is necessary to conserve color charge in interactions involving the strong force.

When a Quark Emits or Absorbs a Gluon, the Quark