But, at larger distances, comparable to the proton radius, the force becomes really strong, and a very large number of gluons is involved, forming complicated structures that are not well known today. Therefore, for some time, it was not expected that the properties of the strong force could be directly derived from the properties of gluons.
在短距离的情况下，胶子会产生一个相当弱且已经被充分研究理解的引力。但在一个相当于质子半径的长距离上，这个力会变得相当强，并将相当数量的胶子整合成一个至今未能完全理解的复杂结构。因此在一段时期内，人们不认为强相互作用力的特性可以直接从胶子的特性中得到。