Why does binding energy affect the mass of quarks, but not protons and neutrons?

In summary, the binding energy creates mass in the case of quarks as they combine to form particles such as neutrons and protons. However, in the case of protons and neutrons, the binding energy depletes mass as they are broken down into smaller particles. This is due to the strong interaction, which increases in strength as quarks are separated, leading to the creation of new particles instead of separating the original ones. The existence of a bound state is determined by the total energy of the configuration compared to the total energy of the separated particles. This correlation is being studied in current experiments, such as the LHC, to better understand the origin of mass.
  • #1
precisionart
20
0
Why is it that the binding energy creates mass in the case of quarks but depletes mass in the case of protons and neutrons? Am i mistaken?
 
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  • #2
Please clarify your question.
creates mass in the case of quarks
and
depletes mass in the case of protons and neutrons
.

What do mean by those phrases?
 
  • #3
The mass of a proton is significantly greater than the mass of its constituent quarks. the mass of an atom is less than its constituent parts.
 
  • #4
In potential models, the total mass of the constituent quarks is usually larger than the nucleon mass. Also, the q-q potential has a positive part to produce confinement, then the PE can go either way.
 
  • #5
so binding energy can be additive or subtractive. I am not clear on your answer (due to my own ignorance).
 
  • #6
With gravity and electromagnetism, the interaction strength decreases as you separate two objects. It takes only a finite amount of energy to separate two objects, actually we can even say that the amount of energy is quite small compared to the mass of the objects. A bound state therefore must exist at a lower potential energy than the constituents, else it would quickly decay.

However the strong interaction is completely different, the strength of the interaction actually increases as you separate two quarks. If you attempt to separate two quarks, you will continue to add energy to the system until you actually add enough for a new quark-antiquark pair to be created. Instead of separating the system into a pair of quarks, you will have instead created two hadrons. The condition for our original configuration of quarks to be a bound state is only that the total energy of that configuration is less than the total energy of the pair of hadrons that we would create by attempting to pull a quark out the configuration. Hence there's no contradiction with the fact that the binding energy creates mass.
 
  • #7
Thank you Fzero. I suspected that this was the correlation.

Do galaxies exhibit a binding energy at all, whereby there mass is affected?
 
  • #8
quarks + gluons ------> particle(neutron, proton)
---no mass------------------mass
This step has not been proved yet.
Current LHC experiment is done to prove the origin of the mass.
Quark and gluon have no mass.
 

1. What is binding energy?

Binding energy is the energy that holds together the particles in an atomic nucleus. It is the amount of energy required to separate the nucleus into its individual protons and neutrons.

2. How is binding energy related to quarks?

Binding energy is related to quarks because quarks are the fundamental building blocks of protons and neutrons, which make up the nucleus. The strong nuclear force, which binds these particles together, is mediated by the exchange of gluons between quarks.

3. What is the relationship between binding energy and stability of an atom?

The higher the binding energy of an atom, the more stable it is. This is because the strong nuclear force is stronger than the electrostatic repulsion between protons, making it more difficult to break apart the nucleus and therefore increasing the stability of the atom.

4. Can binding energy be converted into other forms of energy?

Yes, binding energy can be converted into other forms of energy through nuclear reactions. This is the basis for nuclear power and nuclear weapons, where the conversion of binding energy results in a significant release of energy.

5. How is binding energy calculated?

Binding energy is calculated using the Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2, where E is the energy released, m is the mass defect (difference between the sum of the masses of individual particles and the mass of the nucleus), and c is the speed of light. The higher the mass defect, the higher the binding energy of the nucleus.

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