Strange Charm: A Song about Quarks

In which Hank plays a song for you...the video was made in Illustrator and After Effects and it took a ridiculously long time to do. I hope you like it.

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[HannahCoop]

This was my first introduction to particle physics at the age 12. I'm now studying physics at uni and I get this song in my head all the time during particle physics lectures 10 years later!

[fess]

Its been 12 years and I still know the words. This song is SOLELY responsible for me knowing all the quarks off the top of my head since I was a child.

[channelVlogger]

I shit you not, our physics teacher showed us this clip in 2012 when I had no idea who the vlogbrothers were and three years later, I stumble upon Scishow, Crashcourse and subsequently this piece of gold just to rediscover this song again. I know this happens pretty frequently on the internet, yet I still am fascinated by this.

[thepip]

This song is way better now that I know "up, down, strange, charm, top, bottom" are the types of quarks.

[aquamus]

I'm in my first year of a physics degree and am using this song for revision: almost shocking how comprehensive and accurate Hank can be in a two minute song.

[CODandponies]

this song is the sort of thing that leads me to reading wikipedia for hours

[caenum]

"If you don't know what a quark is it don't MATTER ..."
Get it?  Matter?  MATTER!!!! 

[btbesquire]

Coming back to this after watching Why We Can Exist: The Universe #2. Still so amazing.

[meghandash]

I love how Hank and John together exemplify every possible type of nerd. Hank loves science and things like Harry Potter, Narnia and Lord of the Rings. John is the more respectable history and fancy literature loving nerd. XD They constantly battle over my favour! As a science nerd I'm partial to Hank... but I'm also a writer, so I'm partial to John!

But then, the greatest part of vlogbrothers is that I don't ever have to choose. They're both awesome, in fact we are all awesome. And we don't forget that. ;) Nerdfighters!!

[innocent_fugitive]

My enjoyment of this song increases with time in a strange, exponential way.

[genericyoutuber]

Who the eff is hank?

A hank is a fundamental constituent of matter
Observed in 1968 through deep elastic scatter
We found that protons aren't as simple as we thought
We thought they were solid particles, but they are not

Protons, in fact, are made up of three separate pieces
It just gets more confusing as our knowledge increases
But that is what a hank is, it's a piece of a proton
And they also make up other things, including the neutron

Oh, up, down, strange charm, top, bottom
If you don't know what a hank is, it don't matter, you still got 'em
And with leptons and bosons, unless something's amiss
They make up everything that we can see and that we know exists

Things made up of hanks, including protons and neutrons
Are composite particles that physicists call hadrons
Many types of hadrons are theoretically described
But most exist for only very brief amounts of time

Hanks have electric charge, color charge, mass and spin
And having color charge means they exist solely in-
Side of other kinds particles and cannot exist alone
Which why hanks have never been studied on their own

Up, down, strange charm, top, bottom
If you don't know what a hank is, it don't matter, you still got 'em
And with leptons and bosons, unless somethings amiss
They make up everything that we can see and that we know exists

Hanks can join together in two different ways
Baryons and mesons, but most instantly decay
If a particle has three hanks, then it's a baryon
And if there's one hank and an anti-hank, then it is a meson

These tiny bits of matter are a part of almost everything
And there is no unified theory to make it less confusing
But the fact that we've identified that they exist at all
Is so goddamn remarkable that I just sit in awe

Oh, up, down, strange charm, top, bottom
If you don't know what a hank is, it don't matter, you still got 'em
And with leptons and bosons, unless somethings amiss
They make up everything that we can see and that we know exists

[eleanordowd]

My physics teacher played this and it was easily the best moment of A Level physics

[lilywei]

You know you're a nerd when your favorite song is all about quarks...

[MyRegularNameWasTaken]

I took literally over a year to realize that "up down strange charm top bottom" refers to the different types of quarks.

[tommyfrerking]

SciShow just put out a quark video and here I am for the umpteenth time to listen to this excellent song!

[Nerdfighter]

“One more way that nerdfighteria is taking over the internet” well, 12 years later I can say that we’ve done it. In the best ways possible

[Jazzagal]

10 years later...the sliding word transitions in that song and the fuzzy corners are almost painful to watch for more than 30 seconds! Still a bop though

[Beckyg]

Anyone else listening to the Crash Course: The Universe podcast Episode 2 and absolutely HAVE to pause and come listen to this song again!?

[EdnaSpoonhands]

who knew a song about Advanced particle physics would be that catchy

[michaeldesanta]

*Friend:* How much do you know about physics?

*Me:* Enough to be dangerous.