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# Did AI Prove Our Proton Model Wrong?
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/pbs-space-time/episode/did-ai-prove-our-proton-model-wrong-vkxkbz/
- Published: 2024-04-02T23:12:07.000Z
- Updated: 2025-08-21T13:28:44.000Z
- Description: Has AI proven that the proton is made of 5 quarks rather than 3 quarks?
- Author: Cascade PBS Staff
- Tags: PBS Space Time, Season 9, Episode 17, #ZZZ_Episode_13586fa7-7689-46af-b59d-67f770f2a43c, #episode, #ZZZ_Show_ae70f836-13b6-4c9d-b61f-99f7b8bc29eb, #v1.16

The humble proton may seem simple enough, and they’re certainly common. And protons are each made of three up or down quarks. Simple stuff, right? All except for that last part. Protons are actually made of many, many quarks that happen to look like three only when we look at them in a particular way. And even then, sometimes they’re made of 5 quarks - including the charm quark.