what are electrons?

Answer 1

Electrons are traditionally thought of as negatively charged subatomic particles which orbit the nucleus. Their mass is much less than the mass of protons or neutrons, so their contribution to the atomic mass of an element is insignificant.

However, their true behaviour is not understood, and the simplistic orbital model was thrown out in favour of a more hand-waving shell model. In the shell model, each shell contains a number of electrons which are said to be located somewhere within the region of that shell 99% of the time. The actual location of the electron is not known at any time.

In fact, not even the electrons themselves are understood... like photons, they exhibit wave properties. A beam of electrons, when sent through a tiny aperture, will create a bulls-eye pattern instead of a clear-cut spot as you would expect from particles travelling in straight lines. However, when the experimenters tried to actually observe the electrons within the experiment, the behaviour suddenly changed and they projected a spot instead of the bulls-eye pattern. I have forgotten what the exact name of the phenomenon was, but I learned about it in my Calc-based Physics 2 class a few years back.

For more info, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron

Answer 2

Electrons are negatively charged particles in an atom. They are the lightest particle in the atom and orbit the nucleus, which is the center of the atom. Electrons determine how reactive that atom is. In other words, how likely the atom will combine with another atom or compound. Atoms with more valence electrons will be less likely to combine with something else. Valence electrons are the electrons on the outermost electron shell. A shell is basically the way the electron orbits.

Answer 3

Electrons are particles that are 1/2000 the mass of a proton or neutron. Electrons have a negative charge and a mass of 1/1836amu. In an uncharged atom the number of electrons equals the number of protons, so it is said that this atom is neutral. Electrons whirl around the nucleus at billions of times per second.

No easier way of explainig it...

Answer 4

In an atom, electrons are the negative particles that orbit around the nucleus, or neutral part of the atom. Protrons are the positive particles of the atom and are located within the nucleus of the atom along with neutrons or neutral particles.

Answer 5

i don't know in case you recognize sufficient related to the actual shape of atoms for this answer. All atoms have electrons - one for each proton in its nucleus (you recognize that the electrons orbit the nucleus, precise?). nicely, the at present prevalent form of the progression of atoms has the electrons going on in orbit clouds around the nucleus yet at particular distances from the nucleus (referred to as "shells") looking on what number there are for that atom. The valence electrons are those interior the outer-maximum "shell" of electrons and that they determine the electrical powered value (if any) of the atom in question and what that's bonding skill would be (i.e. how that's going to react or connect with different atoms). that's as non-technical as i will say it without getting all physics-y on you.

Answer 6

electron is the negatively charged particle in the atom having a mass of 9.11*10^(-31)kg and charge of 1.6*10^(-19)coloumbs(C).the electrons revolve around the nucleus in definite orbits.they are responsible for the flow of current in a metal.for more reference refer B.L.Theraja.

Answer 7

Electrons are negative electrical energy, and there a few theories out there about what exactly they do
it is known that they float around atoms nuclei (protons and nuetrons)
one theory is valence rings, and elctrons are small bundles of electric energy that circle in an organized pattern
another theory is wave theory, which says that the energy kind of just floats around in a relativly unorganized fashion

Answer 8

Matter consists of atoms, and atoms consist of electrically charged components--lightweight negative electrons, and positive nuclei.

The Electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. It is a spin-½ lepton that participates in electromagnetic interactions, and its mass is less than one thousandth of that of the smallest atom. Its electric charge is defined by convention to be negative, with a value of −1 in atomic units. Together with atomic nuclei, electrons make up atoms; their interaction with adjacent nuclei is the main cause of chemical bonding

Answer 9

Electrons are negatively charged particles that typically orbit an atom's nucleus.

Answer 10

Electrons have a negative charage and they move about the nucleus