Has anyone ever actually seen an electron, or are they just estimated?

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean by "see". If you generalized the concept to any form of imaging using instruments you, can image the probability distribution of an electron bound to an atom with x-ray diffraction or, more directly, atomic force microscopy. That's analogous to taking an photo of a basketball game with the shutter open for a few minutes. You just see blurs where the players spend most of their time. It's not exactly "seeing" the players, but it's as good as Heisenberg's uncertainly principle will allow. On the other hand, if you just wanted some photographic evidence that electrons are real particles, you can see tracks of high energy electrons that transit a bubble chamber. That's analogous to seeing the contrail of an airplane, but not the plane itself.

Answer 2

No one can see an electron just with their eyes. Our eyes have a resolution of somewhere around 2400 dots per inch (dpi), and electrons are far smaller in size.

Electrons can be detected by a wide variety of means, a Geiger counter detects energenic electrons.

A television screen that uses a cathode ray tube (CRT) uses electrons to paint the image, so you are "seeing" electrons when you watch TV, in a manner of speaking.

Otherwise, all the properties of an electron, including its size, mass, etc. are estimated through experiment.

Answer 3

No electrons cannot be seen .
J.J. Thomson proposed his model of atom in 1903, then only electrons and protons were known . According to Thomson's model of atom
1. An atom consist of a sphere of positive charge with negatively charged electrons embedded in it.
2. The positive and negative charges in an atom are equal in magnitude , due to which an atom is electrically neutral. It has no overall positive or negative charge
The presence of electrons , protons and neutrons became more clear by Rutherford's experiment in which fast moving alpha particles were allowed to strike a very thin gold foil.

Answer 4

Electron microscopes , don't look at electrons, they use electrons to take measurements of larger molecules.

Electrons move too fast to see .
Generally they are imagined as an electron cloud /
They exist as a of probability that they will occupy a certain area of space at any particular point in time.

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Answer 5

You cannot see an electron, they are a fundamental inherent condition of the material i.e. the material represents the negativeness of the the charge. You can see the effect of electrons if you do a Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), particle accelerator, and./or high energy physics experiment that shows the electrons do exist.

Answer 6

Not directly. Scientists have detected electrons, but haven't seen them. All the current machines can detect, trace, and measure them, but you cannot actually see one. However, you can see the effects that an electron has when it gives off energy (e.g. lightning, electricity,...).

Answer 7

No one has ever seen an electron, nor have they ever seen an atom. We've sort-of seen molecules, but you can't distinguish what they are.

Electrons are a theory, as are neutrons and protons. Welcome to the brilliant "scientific" community.

Answer 8

I think they can probably be seen by an electron microscope.

Answer 9

No they've never been seen as individual particle.