The weak force's claim to fame is not strength or reach. It is a power the other three forces simply lack.
Here is what that means. A neutron can turn into a proton, a different type of particle. The weak force carries out that change.
No other force can do this. Gravity moves masses; it never changes what they are. The electromagnetic force attracts and repels charges; every particle it touches stays the same type of particle. The strong force binds quarks into protons and neutrons; the quarks it binds stay the quarks they were.
This is why physicists keep the weak force on the list of four. It is feeble and short-ranged, but it has a monopoly: every change of one particle type into another, anywhere in nature, is its work.
Deep inside the Sun, a proton changes into a neutron. Which fundamental force made the change?
A proton and a neutron are different types of particle, so this is a change of particle type.
The weak force is the only force that can change one type of particle into another.
The weak force made the change.
A magnet drags a steel pin across a desk. Has any particle changed type?
The electromagnetic force moves the pin, and every proton, neutron, and electron in it stays the same type of particle.
Moving a particle is not changing its type.
No. Forces other than the weak force move and bind particles; they never change a particle's type.
Which fundamental force can change one type of particle into another?
Can the strong nuclear force change one type of particle into another?
A neutrino strikes a neutron, and the neutron becomes a proton. Which force made the change?
Which of the following can only the weak nuclear force do?
During one particle event, a down quark changes into an up quark. Which force made the change?
Which statement about changes of particle type is correct?