What type of particles carry a charge smaller than the elementary charge?

Quarks have a charge lower than the elementary charge (𝑒) of an electron or proton. The elementary charge (𝑒) is roughly 1.6 x 10 -19 coulombs.

What are quarks?
Hadrons, including protons and neutrons, are made up of quarks, fundamental particles. They are the only particles in the Standard Model of particle physics that contain fractional charges, which are smaller than elementary charges.

  • A proton consists of two up quarks +(2/3)e and one down quark -(1/3)e. This combination produces a total charge of +𝑒.
  • A neutron is made up of one up quark +(2/3)e and two down quarks -(1/3)e. This yields a total charge of zero.

The strong nuclear force, mediated by particles known as gluons, binds quarks together. Quarks are never discovered solitary; instead, they are always contained within hadrons due to a phenomenon known as quark confinement. Quarks’ fractional charges coalesce into whole-number charges in atomic nuclei (e).

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