On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:07:37 -0700 (PDT), Art Unwin
wrote:

...the weak nuclear force which is due to the exchange of
W and Z bosons and which affects all left-handed leptons and quarks
and whose typical field strength is 10^11 times less than that of
the electromagnetic force?

The standard model of our Universe has four forces.
Gravity which is the weakest
The weak force a misnomer is the second weakest
The electromagnetic force and the strong force.

Try reading the two again. They are identical. The only difference
is you don't know the magnitudes of those forces (the length of their
vectors) like Jim obviously does.

Gravity is abysmally pathetic where it needs several trillion tons of
earth's mass to keep us glued to the surface. If you were an electron
and earth was a proton, you couldn't survive being on the surface
without being crushed by the staggering electromagnetic force.

The Weak force, as Jim carefully explained, is only slightly more
powerful than gravity - which is to say feeble to 11 decimal places.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC