What is an Electron?
An electron is a subatomic particle. Carrying a negative charge, an electron orbits an atom’s nucleus and is bound to it by electromagnetic forces. An electron has a mass that is minuscule in comparison with even the smallest of atoms, coming in at about one thousandth the size of the tiniest atom. The electron is a basic unit of nature, meaning it cannot be broken down into smaller units. The electron plays a starring roll in many of the interactions we see on a daily basis. For example, electrons are partially responsible for the fact that we can stand on a flat surface and not sink right through it. This occurs as the result of the mutual repulsion of the electrons in both the ground and a person’s shoes. We also depend on electrons for electrical current to power electronic devices. Even televisions rely on electrons to function properly. G. Johnstone Stoney, an Irish physicist, was credited with introducing the electron concept in 1874, as well as with naming it twenty years later
The 1960 McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology defined the electron as follows: “An elementary particle of ordinary [visible] matter which is negatively charged”. But there was no picture or mechanical description of it anywhere though its measurable characteristics were discussed at length. In the 1968 Encyclopedia Britannica, it was written that ” An electron must be defined in terms of its own properties, and in terms of its behavior under various conditions.” In other words, there was not then nor is there now a detailed mechanical picture of the electron that you will find anywhere that can be said to be a part of the standard model of physics as it is currently being taught! To the author, any truly valid scientific theory must be able to picture the electron as the most elementary and all-important building block of ordinary visible matter below the size of the atom, and which indelibly serves as the atom’s most vital constituent! The first real attempt to mechanicall
Certainly the physics aspects include the analog of the electron, the positron, which is antimatter, an anti-electron. And when electrons change energy levels in an atom, they do so by absorbing a quantum of light (to move “out”) or releasing a quantum of light (to move “in”) when shifting orbitals. The doorway to electromagnetics is now open. You’ll need more information, and below you’ll find links to related questions and to related articles on the web. Best of luck in your continued investigations.
