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Electron
hideThe electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has no known substructure and is believed to be a point particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1836 times less than that of the proton. The intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of the electron is a half integer value of 1/2, which means that it is a fermion. The anti-particle of the electron is called the positron, which is identical to electron except that it carries electrical and other charges of the opposite sign. In collisions electrons and positrons annihilate, producing a pair (or more) of gamma ray photons. Electrons participate in gravitational, electromagnetic and weak interactions.
The concept of an indivisible amount of electric charge was theorized to explain the chemical properties of atoms, beginning in 1838 by British natural philosopher Richard Laming; the name electron was introduced for this charge in 1894 by Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney. The electron was identified as a particle in 1897 by J. J. Thomson and his team of British physicists. Electrons are identical particles that belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family. Electrons have quantum mechanical properties of both a particle and a wave, so they can collide with other particles and be diffracted like light. Each electron occupies a quantum state that describes its random behavior upon measuring a physical parameter, such as its energy or spin orientation. Because an electron is a type of fermion, no two electrons can occupy the same quantum state; this property is known as the Pauli exclusion principle.
In many physical phenomena, such as electricity, magnetism, and thermal conductivity, electrons play an essential role. An electron generates a magnetic field while moving, and it is deflected by external magnetic fields. When an electron is accelerated, it can absorb or radiate energy in the form of photons. Electrons, together with atomic nuclei made of protons and neutrons, make up atoms. However, electrons contribute less than 0.06% to an atom's total mass. The attractive Coulomb force between an electron and a proton causes electrons to be bound into atoms. The exchange or sharing of the electrons between two or more atoms is the main cause of chemical bonding.
Electrons were created by the Big Bang, and they are lost in stellar nucleosynthesis processes. Electrons are produced by cosmic rays entering the atmosphere and are predicted to be created by Hawking radiation at the event horizon of a black hole. Radioactive isotopes can release an electron from an atomic nucleus as a result of negative beta decay. Laboratory instruments are capable of containing and observing individual electrons, while telescopes can detect electron plasma by its energy emission. Electrons have multiple applications, including welding, cathode ray tubes, electron microscopes, radiation therapy, lasers and particle accelerators.
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News tagged with electrons
Hot Electrons Could Double Solar Cell Power Efficiency
Dec 18, 2009 |
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Scientists have experimentally verified a theory suggesting that hot electrons could double the output of solar cells. The researchers, from Boston College, have built solar cells that successfully use hot ...
More precise measurements of the W boson
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "The W boson is one of the very few major building blocks of matter," Dmitri Denisov tells PhysOrg.com. "It is a member of a family of particles that is the most fundamental in nature. The W boson is res ...
Accelerators and Light Sources of Tomorrow (Part 2: Accelerating with Light)
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Accelerators are far from achieving the highest energies their builders aspire to, but size and cost may limit the kinds of facilities funding agencies can support. In the future, new kinds of machines will ...
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An easy way to see the world's thinnest material
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 23, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (9) |
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It's been used to dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. It's been used to find latent blood stains at crime scenes. And now researchers at Northwestern University have used it to examine the thinnest material ...
Accelerators and Light Sources of Tomorrow (Part 1: From Linacs to Lasers)
Dec 22, 2009 |
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From their humble beginnings as offshoots of the ordinary electric light bulb, particle accelerators have evolved in surprising directions. Among the most productive and promising developments have been light ...
Glitter-sized solar photovoltaics produce competitive results
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Sandia National Laboratories scientists have developed tiny glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.
Researchers are on the path to creating nano-MRI images
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers are devising methods to detect the magnetic fields of individual electrons and atomic nuclei, which they hope to use to make a nanoscale version of magnetic resonance imaging.
Researcher Uses Graphene Quilts to Keep Things Cool
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of California, Riverside Professor of Electrical Engineering and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering Alexander Balandin is leading several projects to explore ways to use ...
Physicists see through the opaque with 'T-rays'
Dec 18, 2009 |
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"T-rays" may make X-rays obsolete as a means of detecting bombs on terrorists or illegal drugs on traffickers, among other uses, contends a Texas A&M physicist who is helping lay the theoretical groundwork to make the concept ...
Heme channel found
Dec 17, 2009 |
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In some ways a cell in your body or an organelle in that cell is like an ancient walled town. Life inside either depends critically on the intelligence of the gatekeepers.
Researcher studies the universe through quantum electrodynamics
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Fundamental constants, such as the standards for length and mass, are a given in our society. However, research has shown that these constants might be changing slightly with the expansion of the universe.
Beaming in on Warm Dense Matter (w/ Video)
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment II (NDCX-II) now under construction at Berkeley Lab will deliver a high-current pulse of lithium ions to a foil target almost simultaneously, momentarily heating ...
Organic flash memory developed
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a non-volatile memory that has the same basic structure as a flash memory but is made from cheap, flexible, organic materials.
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