What is an electron? The electron is a subatomic particle, symbol e− or β−, whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no known components or substructure.
The electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton. Quantum mechanical properties of the electron include an intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of a half-integer value, expressed in units of the reduced Planck constant, ħ. Being fermions, no two electrons can occupy the same quantum state, in accordance with the Pauli exclusion principle.
Like all elementary particles, electrons exhibit properties of both particles and waves: they can collide with other particles and can be diffracted like light. The wave properties of electrons are easier to observe with experiments than those of other particles like neutrons and protons because electrons have a lower mass and hence a longer de Broglie wavelength for a given energy. Still not clear what is an electron and what are its properties right? let's look at its properties
Electron : Discovered by J. J. Thomson (1897)
Essential roles
- 🌩 Electricity
- 🧲 Magnetism
- Conductivity
- Electromagnetic & Gravitational Interactions
- Weak Interactions
- All electronics and components (PC, phone, microchips) fundamentally works on flow of elections.
Properties
- Mass 9.109×10^−31 kilograms
- Rest Mass equivalent energy: 0.511 MeV.
- Charge: -1.602176634×10^−19 coulombs.
- Spin: 1/2
- No known substructure
- The experimental lower bound for the electron's mean lifetime is 6.6×10^28 years, at a 90% confidence level
- Electrons can act as waves, acts like identical particle (Quantum Property)
- Wavefunction of electron is antisymmetric
Lets recap its behavior
What is an electron ?
We can answer this question from the angle of physics as well as chemistry.
Let's start with Chemistry:
- Electrons determines properties of atoms, because they interact between neighboring atoms to form molecules.
- Electrons of one atom are shared or donated between neighboring atoms to form a bond. The electrons of an atom are the ones responsible for chemical interactions.
Let's start with Physics:
- Electrons are indivisible charged particles with a negative charge.
- Electrons are at the borderline between material and energy.
- They behave both like waves or particles, depending on how they are observed.
- Electrons from an orbital which is described by a quantum wave function, which has various shapes like a dumbbell or a sphere or a donut.
- The electron is not present at a point but rather its position is blurred and best described as a probability distribution.
- Electrons spin on a certain axis; but if a magnetic field is applied, they change their angle of spin.
- They are still mysterious, stable, and always loves to come closer to a "positive friend" which is responsible of almost all phenomenon in nature, further we do not completely understand it we are still on it.
I hope that this article was informative to you and you gained all the basic and important properties and features of electron. Now you know what is an electron ? right ?
Know more about Electron in details HERE
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