Electron

In the year 1897, J.J.Thomson discovered the electron. An electron is a subatomic particle with a negative charge. It can be either free (not bound to any atom) or bound to an atom’s nucleus. Electrons have a negative charge of -1. The mass of an electron is approximately 1/1836 that of a proton. 

As a result, the relative mass of 1/1836 is 0.0005. 0.0005 is quite near to zero. In an atom, the number of protons equals the number of electrons. Electron (-1) = proton (+1) = charge-neutral atom. Electrons have no known components or substructures. As a result, they’re often called “elementary particles”.

Electron

The electron is the universe’s smallest and most stable subatomic particle. It has a 1.602176634 coulomb negative charge, which is the fundamental unit of electric charge. The rest mass of an electron is 9.1093837015 1031 kg, which is only 1/1,836 the mass of a proton. 

An electron is basically massless in comparison to a proton or neutron, thus its mass is ignored when calculating an atom’s mass number.

Within any given atom, electrons revolve around the nucleus in an organized arrangement of orbitals, with the nucleus’ attraction overcoming the electrons’ repulsion, which would otherwise cause them to fly apart. These orbitals are organized in concentric shells that radiate outward from the nucleus, with an increasing number of subshells.

The electrons in the orbitals closest to the nucleus are held the tightest, while those in the outermost orbitals are sheltered by intervening electrons and held the loosest. Electrons move freely within this structure, forming a diffuse cloud of negative charge that spans nearly the whole volume of the atom.

The exact structural arrangement of electrons within an atom is known as its electronic configuration. The electrical configuration of an atom determines not just its size but also its chemical character. The periodic table uses electron structural similarity to organize elements into groups of related elements. In the field of particle physics, there are two ways to categories electrons. 

The electron is a fermion, a particle named after the Fermi-Dirac statistics that explain how it behaves. Half-integer spin values define all fermions, with spin corresponding to the particle’s inherent angular momentum. The concept of spin is embodied by P.A.M. Dirac’s wave equation for the electron.

The positron, the antimatter counterpart of the electron, is predicted by the Dirac wave equation. Within the fermion category of subatomic particles, the electron is classified as a lepton. 

A lepton is a subatomic particle that responds only to electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational forces. The short-range strong force, which binds protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus and acts between quarks, has no effect on leptons.

Mass of Electron

The lepton is a stable elementary particle with a mass of 9.1×10-31 kg and a negative electric charge of 1 elementary unit (approximately 1.602 10-19 coulombs).

m-e=9.1×10-31Kg

The Mass of an Electron in amu is:

5.489×10-4 amu.

Rest Mass of Electron

The mass of an electron at rest, denoted by the symbol me, is the mass of the electron when its speed in relation to an observer is zero. The electron is almost 2000 times lighter than the proton, with a mass of 9.10956×10-31 kilograms (kg) or 9.10956×10-28grams (g). Every resting electron on the planet has the same mass as every other resting electron on the planet.

Charge of Electron

The fundamental scientific constant characterizing the naturally occurring unit of electric charge is 1.6202176634×1019coulomb, which is equivalent to the electron charge (symbol e).

In addition to the electron, all freely existing charged subatomic particles have an electric charge equal to or a whole-number multiple of this value. Quarks, which are constantly bound within larger subatomic particles like protons and neutrons, have charges of 1/3 or 2/3 of this magnitude.

Electron Sea Model

The electron sea model depicts electrons on a metal’s surface moving freely from one atom to the next.

The electrons are not held tightly by the metallic atoms due to the low electronegativity of most metals.

The metallic atom becomes more stable in a covalent link by permitting the valence electron density to be transferred primarily to another atom with a higher electronegativity.

There are no atoms with greater electronegativity for the electron density to be transported to in metallic bonding. This indicates that in metallic bonding, the metal atom must shed its electron density without the electrons being transferred to another atom in order to become more stable.

This allows electrons to freely flow across atoms without being bound to any one of them.

The so-called “sea of electrons” is made up of these “free” electrons. The qualities of electric conductivity, malleability, lustre, and heat conductivity in metals are explained by the idea of freely moving electrons.

The “sea of electrons” model or hypothesis helps scientists in visualising electron activity in metallic bonding.

The majority of metal atoms have enough valence electrons to form ionic or covalent bonds. Due to their low electronegativity or interaction with the nucleus, the valence electrons in metal atoms are loosely held. Metal atoms have a low ionisation energy (the amount of energy required to remove an electron from the atom), making it easier to remove valence electrons from the parent atom. The unbound outside electrons exist as negatively charged delocalized electron clouds, whereas the atom forms a positively charged metal ion.

Through a strong, attractive interaction between these negatively and positively charged species, these electrons can be shared by numerous surrounding metal-cations. Metallic bonds, which hold the atoms together, are formed by an attractive force between negatively charged electrons and metal cations.

Conclusion

The electron is the universe’s smallest and most stable subatomic particle. It has a 1.602176634 coulomb negative charge, which is the fundamental unit of electric charge. The rest mass of an electron is 9.1093837015× 1031 kg, which is only 1/1,836 the mass of a proton. 

The electron sea model depicts electrons on a metal’s surface moving freely from one atom to the next.

The electrons are not held tightly by the metallic atoms due to the low electronegativity of most metals. The metallic atom becomes more stable in a covalent link by permitting the valence electron density to be transferred primarily to another atom with a higher electronegativity.