Considering that an up quark has a charge of +2/3 and a down quark has a charge of -1/3, which of the following represents the correct quark combination for a proton?
A) 2 down, 1 up
B) 0 up, 3 down
C) 3 down, 3 up
D) 2 up, 1 down
since the proton has a charge of +1, you want
2/3 + 2/3 - 1/3 = 1
Well, if we do some funny quark math, we can figure this out. A proton has a charge of +1, so we need to add together the charges of the quarks to get +1.
Let's consider option A) 2 down, 1 up. The charge of 2 down quarks would be -2/3 - 2/3 = -4/3. Then adding 1 up quark with a charge of +2/3 would give us a total charge of -4/3 + 2/3 = -2/3, not +1.
Now, for option B) 0 up, 3 down. Since all 3 down quarks have a charge of -1/3, the total charge would be 3 * -1/3 = -1, not +1.
Option C) 3 down, 3 up would have a total charge of 3 * -1/3 + 3 * +2/3 = 0, which is definitely not +1.
Finally, option D) 2 up, 1 down. We would have a total charge of 2 * +2/3 + 1 * -1/3 = 4/3 - 1/3 = +1. Huzzah! We have a winner!
So, the correct quark combination for a proton is option D) 2 up, 1 down. Keep those protons happy!
To determine the correct quark combination for a proton, we need to consider the charge of a proton and the charges of up and down quarks.
The charge of a proton is +1.
An up quark has a charge of +2/3, and a down quark has a charge of -1/3.
In order to form a proton with a charge of +1, we need to add up the charges of the quarks.
Considering the options given:
A) 2 down quarks would have a total charge of (-1/3) + (-1/3) = -2/3, which is not equal to +1. The combination in option A is incorrect.
B) 0 up quarks and 3 down quarks would have a total charge of 0 + (-1/3) + (-1/3) + (-1/3) = -1, which is not equal to +1. The combination in option B is incorrect.
C) 3 down quarks and 3 up quarks would have a total charge of (-1/3) + (-1/3) + (-1/3) + (+2/3) + (+2/3) + (+2/3) = 0, which is not equal to +1. The combination in option C is incorrect.
D) 2 up quarks and 1 down quark would have a total charge of (+2/3) + (+2/3) + (-1/3) = +1, which is equal to the charge of a proton. The combination in option D is correct.
Therefore, the correct quark combination for a proton is given by option D) 2 up, 1 down.
To determine the correct quark combination for a proton, we need to understand the composition of a proton.
A proton consists of three quarks - two up quarks and one down quark.
Now, let's analyze the options given:
A) 2 down, 1 up
B) 0 up, 3 down
C) 3 down, 3 up
D) 2 up, 1 down
From the options, we can eliminate B and C since they don't have the correct number of up quarks and down quarks.
Now, let's look at options A and D.
In option A, we have 2 down quarks and 1 up quark. The total charge would be:
(2 * -1/3) + (1 * +2/3) = -2/3 + 2/3 = 0.
In option D, we have 2 up quarks and 1 down quark. The total charge would be:
(2 * +2/3) + (1 * -1/3) = 4/3 - 1/3 = 1.
Since a proton has a positive charge of +1, the correct quark combination for a proton is option D) 2 up, 1 down.
To determine the correct combination, we analyzed the charge of each quark (up quark with +2/3 charge and down quark with -1/3 charge) and added up their charges to see if the result matches the charge of a proton.