2007-02-23 17:08:50 · 7 answers · asked by Carlos H 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
When you start to focus on items that are extremely large or extremely small as compared to objects in you everyday reality, a different set of rules seems to apply.
For the very small, quantum physics and not Newtonian physics become a better model of the Universe.
The electron is not like a baseball. The baseball can be here or there and anyone can point to its location. If you can see it, you know its location. This is true when it is in the pitcher's glove or on its way to the plate or leaving the ballpark over a fence.
An electron conforms to different rules. You or I or any human cannot see one. We can only know something about its general location. The mathematics associated with this phenomenon has given us the idea that it is more like a cloud than a ball.
The electron is not located in the cloud, it is the cloud. When it is associated with a single atom, it will take a specific cloud shape located near the nucleus of that atom depending upon the amount of energy that it has.
When the electron is associated with a molecule, it can be generally located as a cloud located over a larger space which can include several atomic nuclei.
2007-02-23 20:12:36 · answer #1 · answered by Richard 7 · 12⤊ 0⤋
Location of electron is in between cloud.
2007-02-24 15:29:32 · answer #2 · answered by Sachin Rawat 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you realise how heavy that question is? The best answer should get double points.
The classical answer is that electrons exist at levels or shells around the nucleus. We visualise fixed orbits at set distances from the nucleus. Gaps in the other shell allow the joining of other ions to produce molecules.
The proper answer is that the electron is defined by the electron cloud. That is, the electron is actually a cloud of pieces. By thinking of he electron in this way, observations such as the wave-like nature of particles can make sense. :)
I suggest further reading of QED by Richard Feynman. Other books such as "Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman" intersperse bits of science with a biography of an extraordinary man.
2007-02-24 01:47:28 · answer #3 · answered by templeblot 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The last I heard, we still cannot pinpoint the location. An electron cloud is more of a "best guess" representation of where these particles might be.
2007-02-24 01:18:47 · answer #4 · answered by jim d 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
An electron cloud is just the depiction of where an electron could possilby be at any given instant in time.
2007-02-24 01:17:45 · answer #5 · answered by Troy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the outer rings of the atom ... nucleous -> prtons nuetrons -> electron cloud
2007-02-24 01:17:12 · answer #6 · answered by txhorsechick 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Try looking a little to the left...can you see it now?
Next time try asking an actual question.
2007-02-24 01:17:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋