May the Force Be With You!

But, which force would you prefer were with you?

There are 4 fundamental forces in the universe: Gravitational force, Electromagnetic force, Weak force, and Strong force. We easily and constantly observe gravitational and electromagnetic forces in our daily lives. Weak and strong forces are observed only at the atomic level. I’m going to explain each one, so that you decide which force you want to be with you.

You might immediately think, “I want the force of gravity to be with me because it is so strong, it prevents people falling off of the planet, it must be the coolest force ever!” Well, sorry to break the news for you, but the force of gravity is the weakest force in the universe.

Before proceeding to the four fundamental forces in the universe, I want you to imagine the nature of force. What do you think force is made of? Is it like an invisible fluid – a fluid that has the power to impact other things like a river? If so, what could it be made of? Tomato soup is made of tomatoes, then what are those 4 forces made out of?

Okay, it’s time to reveal one of the strangest things about quantum physics! All forces are invisible to human eye to a point, but when we look close enough, we can see that all four forces are made of smallest, tiniest quantum particles. These tiny particles are called FORCE CARRIERS, since they carry the force they are creating.

Gravity

The good old gravity that we experience everyday is made of tiny quantum particles called gravitons. Gravity – GRAVITONS... No brainer, eh? (Usually physicists want to keep it as simple as possible). Okay, the force soup of gravity is made of graviton particles. The ending –on comes from Greek and it represents the particle-like nature of an object. That’s why most of the quantum particles end with –on because those particles were initially thought to be ball-like objects.

Wherever you are now, take a look around you; do you think the force of gravity is active where you are? Gravitational force does not interact only between people and the Earth, but also between every two objects, such as between you and your smartphone or between the chair and the tables right now. All things that are made of matter and have mass attract each other, but they don’t necessarily move or fly somewhere, because the gravitational force is very weak. It takes a big mass, like a planet-size mass to create a notable interaction of gravitational force. Now take a look around you, and imagine that invisible network as a spider web between all the objects you see. There is so much going on between them right now! A continuous gravitational force is pervasive everywhere between everyday objects and in the universe between celestial objects. Otherwise a living room would have looked like this, even messier..

So, if everything seems to be sitting on the ground nicely, and if you are not witnessing a mess of flying objects before your eyes, then it means there is an ocean of gravitons around you. Please say hi to these gravitons that have been with you your whole life, even when you were in the womb. Gravitons interact between all matter. Since our world, our bodies and everything we see around us is matter, gravitons are with you wherever you go. We are swimming within an ocean of gravitons.

Electromagnetic Force

Now I am going to introduce you the second force of the universe: Electromagnetic Force. It has the two cool words electro and magnetic which sounds awesome, but what is it? First off, Electromagnetic Force can be visible and invisible. When visible, Electromagnetic Force is simply the light that illuminates our world and lets us see the colors of objects around us. It can be sunlight or the any color of light coming from light bulbs, LEDs. So, light is actually a force; electromagnetic force.

The light coming from the Sun is electromagnetic force

The force carrier of Electromagnetic Force is called photons! Photons could be one of the most bizarre entities of the quantum world. Why are photons bizarre? Well, all force carriers are subatomic particles. The word particle refers to an object with a certain mass. However, while a photon displays a particle nature of an object, a photon does not have mass! Photons particles are like little round beads; they look like beads, they act like beads and they interact like beads, however, those beads do not have mass.

Photon: waves of light and bits of light which do not have mass. Photons carry the electromagnetic force

In some of the quantum experiments photons create a ball-like particle pattern, but inrestingly when their properties are measured it is found that they are non-physical. How can a non-physical, an abstraction, something weightless, massless can act like an object? This is one of the mysteries of the quantum world. When all these non-physical photon beads come together they form a necklace, which is Electromagnetic force. This electromagnetic force acts like an ocean and propagates in waves. The size of the waves changes based on the energy level of the electromagnetic force. The force carrier of electromagnetic force is photons, so the ocean of electromagnetic force is made of photon droplets.

Electromagnetic force can be invisible as well. When not visible, based on its energy level and the size of it waves, it can be radio waves, UV rays, infrared, X rays and gamma rays. For instance, electromagnetic force with the lowest energy would be radiowaves that makes radio signals or your wifi signals. Your wifi is merely an ocean of photons with lower energy. Another lower energy EM force is microwaves that heats up the food in microwave appliances. Microwaves carry higher energy photons than radiowaves, thus they are more powerful. Sometimes radiowave wifi signals may include a little bit higher energy photons, which belong to the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. When talking on the phone the warmth you notice around your ear may be because of the photons that belong to microwave energy level. Infrared rays are also electromagnetic force on the lower energy end than visible light. Infrared rays are also called thermal waves and they carry heat energy, for instance from the Sun. Infrared rays, carried by sunlight, are the reason we are warm. Infrared waves are also the waves make our remote controls work. Radiowaves, microwaves and infrared waves have lower energy than visible electromagnetic force.

Higher energy photons make up Ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays. Ultraviolet light makes our skin tan and X-rays allow us to see our bones on a film. UV rays and X-rays carry higher energy photons and long exposure to UV rays and X-rays may cause health problems. Gamma rays carry the most energetic photons of the electromagnetic waves. As smarty-pants humans, scientists wanted to harness this high energy photons in the gamma rays. Gamma rays are used in the field of medicine to kill cancer cells.

Radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, UV rays, X rays, gamma rays—all are Electromagnetic force. What is electromagnetic force made of? Again, Electromagnetic force is made of non-physical quantum particles. What is the name of non-physical quantum particles that make up the electromagnetic force? Photons!

So look around you, can you see objects around you? If yes, there must be a source of light either sunlight or electricity powered light source. They all produce photons, and those photons travel with the speed of light and bump on to the objects all around you making them visible to your eyes. Do you have wifi in the room you are in? Then there is another source of photons with different energy that comes from radio waves emitted from the tower. Wifi and a light source is enough to shower us with billions, trillions, zillions of photons. We are not only living in an ocean of gravitons, but there is an ocean of photons all around us at all times as well.

There is no way out from the gravitational force (and its carrier particles, gravitons) and electromagnetic force (and its carrier particles, photons) in this world.

Weak Force and Strong Force in the Atom

Let’s check out the other two forces: weak and strong force. Their impact range is very small, in other words they can affect only in very small distances and we don’t realize their existence in our daily lives. But it doesn’t mean they are less important or irrelevant. Without the strong force atoms would not hold their nucleus together, thus matter would not be able to exist. Without matter, we, human beings, would not be able to be holding our physical shapes together. So we owe our bodies and the world to the existence of strong force.

First of all, the name weak force is very deceptive, because the weak force is 100.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 times (26 zeros) more powerful than gravity. It is the force that happens in the nucleus and can be effective in only extremely small distances such as the nucleus of an atom. That’s why although it is so much more powerful than gravity its interactions are valid and accountable only in small distances. The force carrier of the weak force is called W and Z bosons. Not so much creativity while naming the carriers of weak force.

The range of strong force is also very small, it cannot travel long distances. However, strong force is 1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 times (39 zeros) stronger than the gravitational force and 100 times stronger than the electromagnetic force. Similar to the weak force the realm of strong force is also nucleus and its influence boundaries are limited to very small distances.

Strong force is the force that keeps the protons all together in the nucleus. All the protons are positively charged and they stay in the nucleus as a bundle. Protons are supposed to repel each other because same charges repel each other. The super strong force keeps all the protons as a bundle in the nucleus and allows matter to be created. The strong force is made of gluons. Physicists not only want to keep things as simple as possible, but also logical. All those protons are naturally supposed to repel each other, but there is these superglue-like gluons that keep them altogether. The particles that make up this strong force are called gluons.

• As long as there is light, wifi, and heat around us, then we are in an ocean of photons.

• As long as our physical body is interacting with other objects, then we are in an ocean of gravitons.

• As long as we are a physical body made of matter, the we, ourselves, are an ocean of gluons and W and Z bosons.

Rest assured, all is well!

What a relief that all the four forces are already and always with us!