One of the basic constituents of
matter. Modern theory describes an electron as a
wave-particle, which behaves unlike everyday
waves or
particles. Below is a list of the basic properties of the electron.
The electron is a member of the
lepton family of particles, and one of the three basic
particles that form
atoms. It is typically found in clouds surrounding atomic
nuclei, but is relatively easy to separate from an atom into electron beams, or just into electric current. Electrons are fundamental particles, that is, they are not composed of anything else.
The electron is the primary conductor of
electric charge, since it is much more free to move about
matter than its counterpart, the
proton, which is far heavier.
It has a charge of -1 elementary charges, and its
antiparticle, the
positron, has a charge of 1. In
coulombs, this charge is 1.60217733(49)x10
-19
An electron's
rest mass is 1/1804 of that of a
proton, or 9.1093897x10
-31 kg
The
electron-volt, a unit of
energy, is defined as the energy gained by one electron in going through an electric potential of 1
volt. It is a very small unit, with one mega-electronvolt(MeV) being equal to 1.602x10
-13 joules. The
rest mass of the electron, measured in electron volts (Thanks to
Einstein's
little formula) is 0.5109906 MeV.
The
radius of an electron is 2.81794092x10
-15 m, if considered as a particle, though modern theory sees an electron as a
wavepacket, not as a particle. The wavelike nature of the electron is utilized in things like
electron microscopes and many puzzling
quantum mechanics experiments