Tom Amanp age 11, of Nitro, Va., for his question:
What is an electron?
The Age of Science really began when the little electron was put to work. Strange to say, the tiny slave was tamed before we knew much about it. Electric power was in use before we learned that the current was made by the: energetic electron. Nowadays we know how to make; it provide for our TV, telephone, lights and countless other services. We know a lot about it, but we still do not know all its secrets.
The electron is a particle of the amazing atom. Each atom is made of electric particles. A normal atom contains an equal number of positive particles and negative particles. The positive particles are welded in the nucleus, or heart of the atom. Our electron is one of the negative particles. These tiny bits of matter are arranged in shells about the positively charged nucleus of the atom.
The most amazing thing about atoms is their size. No one has ever seen an atom, even through the most powerful microscope. To get an idea of the size, let's compare a .fair sized atom with a pin prick in a sheet of paper. Magnify them both until the; pinprick is a mile wide. The atom would then be pinprick size.
And our electron is but a tiny particle of that midget atom. It is believed that it circles the; nucleus of the atom as the planets circle the sun. There is plenty of space. In fact the nucleus has about as much room as a fly in a movie house. Most of an atom is empty space. And the atoms, even in a solid iron poker, are restlessly moving about.
Our electron is usually one of a family. Each atom has its own quota of electrons. An atom of gold has 79 electrons, aluminum has 13, oxygen has 8, copper has 29 and hydrogen has only one. Electrons have far more freedom than the particles welded in the nucleus. They move about and restlessly skip from atom to atom. Sometimes they get a jolt and pop off like loose 1juttons. One such dolt is magnetism. This sets the electrons chasing along a wire to produce an electric current.
The electric wire is usually made of copper because of a certain very energetic electron. This fellow is alone in the outside shell of the copper atom. The inner shell is complete with 2 electrons. The second with 80 the third with 18. The lone ranger on the outside tends to swap places with the lone electron next door.
A jolt of magnetism sets trillions upon trillions of these visiting electrons hopping along a copper wire. The speed energy of these electrons is electric current. Over four billion billion electrons rush over the circuit every second to keep a 60 watt electric light burning. Imagine the number of electron slaves at work to power all our machines and run all our gadgets=