Quarks make up protons and neutrons, which, in turn, make up an atom's nucleus. Each proton and each neutron contains three quarks. A quark is a fast-moving point of energy.

What is the purpose of quarks?

Quarks cluster together to create the protons and neutrons found in the nucleus of every atom, and ever since evidence for their existence was found by bouncing electrons off them in the 1960s, researchers thought they pretty much understood quarks.

What does the strange quark do?

Like all quarks, the strange quark is an elementary fermion with spin 12, and experiences all four fundamental interactions: gravitation, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and strong interactions.