Messenger Particles

The messengers of the strong interaction are called gluons because they "glue" the quarks together into particles like protons and neutrons and in turn glue protons and neutrons together into atomic nuclei. Photons are the messengers of the electromagnetic interaction and particles called W and Z carry the weak interaction. Gravitons are believed to carry gravity, but they have so far not been found.

Phyllis and Mallard are demonstrating how messenger particles carry interactions between particles of matter. Here, the ducks are matter particles, and the egg is the messenger forcing Phyllis and Mallard to stay close together.

One of the things that determines the range of an interaction is the mass of the messenger particles...

...heavier messengers have a shorter range.

Properties of the four interactions and their messenger particles.