Fundamental Forces

All the forces that exist in nature come under the four fundamental forces. We can differentiate the four fundamental forces on the basis of their characteristics. The criteria of these characteristics are the force experienced by the particles, the relative strength between the force, the effectiveness of the range over the force, and dependence on the nature of the particles in which the force is acting. The gravitational and electromagnetic forces were discovered long before weak and strong forces. The gravitational force was discovered by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century.

Fundamental forces can be categorised into four categories. these are:

• Gravitational force
• Electromagnetic force
• Weak nuclear force
• Strong nuclear force

Gravitational Force

Gravitational force is the weakest of all forces. It is weaker than a weak nuclear force, but its range is very high as it works by virtue of its masses. This force is the most intuitive and fundamental force acting on any of the bodies in this universe. If we drop a stone, it will return to its surface. 

Some examples of gravitational force are:

• We can walk on the surface of the earth
• The earth has air because of this force
• The moon revolves around the earth
• The rain falls back to the earth’s surface
• The earth is almost spherical because of this force.

Electromagnetic Force 

The electromagnetic force occurs because of charges like attraction between opposite charges and repulsion between the same charges. The electromagnetic force is billions of times stronger than the gravitational force. But electromagnetic force is acting on our level by which we can tell that we live in an electromagnetic world. The attraction between opposite poles of a magnet is also caused by electromagnetic force. This force is also called the Lorentz force. In the beginning, scientists separated this force into two forces, electric and magnetic force, but later researchers found that these two are some components of this force.

Weak Nuclear Force 

Unlike gravitational force, this force acts in a very short range. This force was first introduced by beta decay. In simple words, this force converts one particle into another particle. This happens because the exchange of quarks is much smaller than a proton. Quarks are divided into six categories – up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom. In any element, if the number of protons present in its nucleus exceeds 83, the element becomes heavy and turns radioactive.

Strong Nuclear Force

In 1911 Earnest Rutherford discovered the atom’s basic structure, which consists of a small and dense core of positive electric charge called the nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. In 1917 he discovered the protons, which meant the nucleus consisted not of a big blob of electric charge, but a whole bunch of smaller blobs held together. Each proton can be imagined as a tiny ball with a positive electrical charge. And these protons are all getting pushed apart from one another, but there is only one possibility. The strong nuclear force is stronger than all other forces, and it works in a very short range. Only because of this force do the nuclei of atoms stay together. Due to the exchange of strong nuclear force, the quarks inside the protons and neutrons are held together. 

Conclusion 

Every action in this universe happens due to these four natural forces. The existence of this whole universe would not be possible without these forces. These forces are found from a very large body to molecular level. Whether our planets or nuclear or proton, all are stabilised due to these forces. After discovering these forces, scientists have improvised their theories in many ways, which help us get the current benefits of science. These forces look simple, but the modern era would not be possible without the application of these forces. These forces work as primary sources, even creating turbines to make nuclear plants.