Аннотация:The creation of the theory of relativity, which discovered the equivalence of mass and energy, showed that the concept of a point charge, used in the formulation of Coulomb’s law, one of the basic laws of classical electrodynamics, contradicts the famous formula establishing the equivalence of mass and energy. But the discovery of quarks makes it possible to present classical electrodynamics in a form free from the indicated contradiction. In the article, having considered the electromagnetic field in a curvilinear coordinate system, a theory has been created that expands our understanding of the electromagnetic field, the nature of quarks, the nature of strong interaction, and the connection between strong interaction and electromagnetic interaction. This theory is based on the principle of equivalence of an electromagnetic field to a free material particle formulated in the article and the law of formation of elementary particles from an electromagnetic field that follows from it.