The top quark is one of the six types of quarks in the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the heaviest of all quarks, with a mass about 173 GeV/c², which is roughly 38 times that of the bottom quark. Top quarks are produced in high-energy collisions, such as those in particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. Top quarks are unique because they decay very quickly, often within a fraction of a second, into other particles. They primarily decay into a W boson and a bottom quark. Studying top quarks helps physicists understand fundamental forces and the structure of matter in the universe.