Protons - named after the Greek word proto, as the proton was the first discovered hadron.
Protons consist of 2 Up-quarks and 1 Down-quark, and are so stable that no proton decay has ever been observed. They exist many times longer than the present age of the universe. |
Neutron - named after the Latin word neutralis, meaning to belong to neither, or simply neutral
Neutrons consist of 2 Down-quarks and 1 Up-quark, and are stable as long as they are incorporated in a nucleus. Let loose, they live about 12 minutes and then they decay. The famous electron is a lepton. |
Many more Baryons exist, but they are made from quarks that are unstable themselves. These heavy Baryons occur very rarely in nature and when they do, they decay almost immediately after they were born. Heavy guys like this may come about in certain very violent cosmic events. |