What is especially intriguing about QCD is that--contrary to what happens with such familiar forces as gravity and electromagnetism--the coupling strength grows weaker as quarks approach one another. Physicists have called this curious counterintuitive behavior asymptotic freedom. It means that when two quarks are substantially closer than a proton diameter (about 10-13 centimeter), they feel a reduced force, which physicists can calculate with great precision by means of standard techniques. Only when a quark begins to stray from its partner does the force become truly strong, yanking the particle back like a dog on a leash.
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