The basic forces in nature
Contemporary Physics Education Project
Fundamental Forces
There are four forces in the Universe: strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravity. You may be most familiar with gravity. Gravity is what holds you and your dog to the surface of this planet!
The other forces may be less familiar to you, but they are very important! For example, the electromagnetic force holds electrons in orbit around the nucleus of an atom. We need these atom parts to be held together because we're made of atoms!
FUNDAMENTAL FORCES
| Interaction |
Relative Strength |
Range |
Mediating Particle |
|
| Strong |
1 |
Short |
Gluon |
|
| Electromagnetic |
0.0073 |
Long |
Photon |
|
| Weak |
10-9 |
Very Short |
W,Z |
|
| Gravitational |
10-38 |
Long |
Graviton |
|
Table courtesy of University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario (Cananda)
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