The strong interaction is observable at two ranges and mediated by two force carriers. On a larger scale (about 1 to 3 fm ), it is the force (carried by mesons ) that binds protons and neutrons (nucleons) together to form the nucleus of an atom . On the smaller scale (less than about 0.8 fm, the radius of a nucleon), it is the force (carried by gluons ) that holds quarks together to form protons, neutrons, and other hadron particles. In the latter context, it is often known as the color force . The strong force inherently has such a high strength that hadrons bound by the strong force can produce new massive particles . Thus, if hadrons are struck by high-energy particles, they give rise to new hadrons instead of emitting freely moving radiation ( gluons ). This property of the strong force is called color confinement , and it prevents the free "emission" of the strong ...