strong interaction
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The strong interaction is the powerful force that holds particles called quarks together to form protons and neutrons, and then binds those protons and neutrons tightly together inside the atomic nucleus. This force matters because without it, atoms couldn't exist—the nucleus would fall apart and all the matter we see around us, including ourselves, couldn't hold together.
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An animation of color confinement, a property of the strong interaction. If energy is supplied to the quarks as shown, the gluon tube connecting quarks elongates until it reaches a point where it "snaps" and the energy added to the system results in the formation of a quark–antiquark pair. Thus single quarks are never seen in isolation. An animation of the strong interaction between a proton and a neutron, mediated by pions. The colored small double circles inside are gluons.
In nuclear physics and particle physics, the strong interaction, also called the strong force or strong nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions. It confines quarks into protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles, and also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the nuclear force.