Proton/Neutron - Fermion confusion.

[Silvestru]

This will be very simple for most of you but please clarify something for me.

 

A Proton/Neutron is composed of two up quarks and one down quark/one up quark and two down respectively and they are held in place by gluons.

 

Protons/Neutrons are fermions but gluons are bosons.

 

Can someone please clarify?

 

Thank you.

[swansont]

Anything with half-integral spin are Fermions. they behave in certain ways, owing to spin statistics. Most notably, two identical fermions can't be in the same state.

 

Gluons have integral spin (spin 1), which means they are Bosons, like all force-mediating particles are.

[Silvestru]

Yes I understand that but a Proton is made out of 3 quarks held by gluons so I will assume it's made out of quarks and gluons.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Silvestru

[Mordred]

Yes but you can combine fermions to make a boson or bosons can add up to make a fermion

Edited April 28, 2017 by Mordred

[Bender]

How can bosons add up to make a fermion? Could you give an example?

[Mordred]

Sorry wasn't thinking clearly when I typed that. Too early in AM hadn't finished my first coffee.

[Bender]

Thanks for clearing that out. It happens to all of us

[Mordred]

lol gotta wake up first lmao

[Phi for All]

lol gotta wake up first lmao

 

You probably opened the drapes too quick, and all those photons combined into a brick. Hangover much?

[Mordred]

lol

[swansont]

Yes I understand that but a Proton is made out of 3 quarks held by gluons so I will assume it's made out of quarks and gluons.

 

 

The quarks are spin 1/2, so having 3 of them will leave you with something that has a half-integral spin. No matter how many gluons are around, you still have half-integral spin. You're going to have a Fermion.

[Pugdaddy]

You can't take the two ups and a down for a proton or the two downs and an up for a neutron too literally. There is a soup of things in the proton and neutron. Lots of gluons, lots of up, down, top, bottom, charmed and strange quarks all interacting with each other. At any one time there is a net positive charge in the proton because on average there are two more 2/3 positively charged up quarks and one more 1/3 negatively charged down quark in the soup giving a net one positive charge. The neutron having two down quarks at negative 1/3 and one up with positive 2/3 positive charge cancel out to make the neutron neutral in charge.

[Silvestru]

Thank you guys It's clear for me now. It's really fun asking questions on this forum.

People like SwansonT, Strange (he's scary), Mordred and many more make it fun. You guys really adapt your answers to the level of understanding of the person who asks.