ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Strange quark

Hello there! Today, we will talk about strange quarks. Quarks are tiny particles that make up protons and neutrons, which together make up the nucleus of an atom.

Now, strange quarks are just like regular quarks, but they have a special property called "strangeness", which means they interact differently with other particles than regular quarks do.

You can think of strangeness as a sort of "flavor" that only strange quarks have. Just like how you might prefer the taste of chocolate ice cream over vanilla, particles with strange quarks might interact differently with other particles compared to particles without strange quarks.

Scientists first discovered strange quarks when they observed a type of particle called a "kaon" decaying in an unusual way. They found that this strange behavior could only be explained if the kaon contained a strange quark.

Since then, scientists have studied strange quarks in more detail and have found that they play an important role in understanding the behavior of particles and the structure of matter.

So, to sum it up, strange quarks are a special type of tiny particle that have a property called "strangeness" which makes them interact differently with other particles. They were discovered by scientists studying the behavior of a particle called a kaon, and they play an important role in understanding how matter works.