Strong Force

The Strong Force is one of the four Great Forces that split from the Superforce during Genesis. It is carried by gluons.

It is an immensely powerful force responsible for holding together quark-based matter, such as hadrons and nuclei. It is over 100 times more powerful than Electromagnetism.

Function
The strong force holds together groups of quarks to form hadrons (on this scale it is referred to as the color force), and also holds together hadrons to form nuclei of atoms (on this scale it is referred to as the nuclear force). When holding together hadrons, the strong force is transmitted directly by gluons. When holding together entire nuclei, mesons are used as vectors.

As the color force, the Strong Force has three different states (or "colors") similar to Electromagnetism's two charges (positive and negative). The three colors are red, green and blue.

Despite its strength, the strong force has a limited range and requires precise arrangement of particles in order to function. The nuclear force tends to weaken in large atomic nuclei due to the limited range, and this is the reason for radioactivity in heavy elements. The requirement for precise particle positioning means that only two types of hadron (and their antimatter equivalents) can exist solely through the strong force alone.

Other types of hadron, when used in technology, are often stabilized using artificial forces, mainly ligism.