Quarks Electrons and the Atomic Nucleus. (original) (raw)

According to the Standard Model, nucleons consist of three quarks bound together by three strong-force bonds, with protons containing two up-quarks and one down-quark, and neutrons two down-quarks and one up-quark. However, this model involves a strong-force bond between the two same-charge quarks, which is most unlikely. A quark-chain nucleon model involving two strong-force bonds connecting a central quark with a pair of oppositely charged quarks is much more feasible and leads to some interesting possibilities for the structure of atomic nuclei, their electron orbitals and for covalent bonding patterns.