A kaon is a type of subatomic particle known as a meson. It is made up of a quark and an antiquark, specifically a strange quark and either an up or down quark. Kaons are important in particle physics because they help scientists study the behavior of fundamental forces and the properties of matter. Kaons come in several varieties, including the charged kaons (K⁺ and K⁻) and the neutral kaons (K⁰). They are produced in high-energy collisions, such as those in particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. The study of kaons has contributed to our understanding of CP violation, which is a difference in behavior between matter and antimatter.