What is the role of electrons in atoms?

Answer 1

These are the negatively charged particles in an atom. They are located in what is called an electron cloud which is basically an area where an atom's electrons move constantly in an orbit around the atom's cluster of neutrons and protons. Electrons are only 1/1000 the size of neutrons and protons, so they're pretty small and light weight. These particles are EXTREMELY crucial in understanding how chemistry and other life sciences work because they cause reactions to happen. It is through the sharing and transfer of electrons that compounds are made and destroyed, so electrons are very important.

Answer 2

The electron (symbol: e−

) is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle.[2] An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton.[8] The intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of the electron is a half-integer value in units of ħ, which means that it is a fermion. The antiparticle of the electron is called the positron; it is identical to the electron except that it carries electrical and other charges of the opposite sign. When an electron collides with a positron, both particles may either scatter off each other or be totally annihilated, producing a pair (or more) of gamma ray photons. Electrons, which belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family,[9] participate in gravitational, electromagnetic and weak interactions.[10] Electrons, like all matter, have quantum mechanical properties of both particles and waves, so they can collide with other particles and can be diffracted like light. However, this duality is best demonstrated in experiments with electrons, due to their tiny mass. Since an electron is a fermion, no two electrons can occupy the same quantum state, in accordance with the Pauli exclusion principle.[9]

The concept of an indivisible quantity of electric charge was theorized to explain the chemical properties of atoms, beginning in 1838 by British natural philosopher Richard Laming;[4] the name electron was introduced for this charge in 1894 by Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney. The electron was identified as a particle in 1897 by J. J. Thomson and his team of British physicists.[6][11][12]

In many physical phenomena, such as electricity, magnetism, and thermal conductivity, electrons play an essential role. An electron in motion relative to an observer generates a magnetic field, and will be deflected by external magnetic fields. When an electron is accelerated, it can absorb or radiate energy in the form of photons. Electrons, together with atomic nuclei made of protons and neutrons, make up atoms. However, electrons contribute less than 0.06% to an atom's total mass. The attractive Coulomb force between an electron and a proton causes electrons to be bound into atoms. The exchange or sharing of the electrons between two or more atoms is the main cause of chemical bonding.[13]

According to theory, most electrons in the universe were created in the big bang, but they may also be created through beta decay of radioactive isotopes and in high-energy collisions, for instance when cosmic rays enter the atmosphere. Electrons may be destroyed through annihilation with positrons, and may be absorbed during nucleosynthesis in stars. Laboratory instruments are capable of containing and observing individual electrons as well as electron plasma, whereas dedicated telescopes can detect electron plasma in outer space. Electrons have many applications, including welding, cathode ray tubes, electron microscopes, radiation therapy, lasers and particle accelerators.

From Wikipedia

Answer 3

Electrons are in design made to balance out protons, because electrons, being negative, will even out the positive charge of the protons. Additionally they play a big part in the electrovalent and covalent chemical bonds.

Answer 4

The nucleus of an atom is the center of the atom, and it consists of protons (sub-atomic particles that are positively charged) and neutrons (particles that don't have a charge). Electrons (negatively charged) are slightly smaller, and the orbit the nucleus in "shells". Other stuff you may or may not want/need to know: -There is a certain maximum number of electrons that a shell (remembering that each electron has an orbital a specific distance from the nucleus, and orbitals are on the line of the shell; therefore, a shell consists of whatever orbitals are in that particular distance from the nucleus) can have. Sorry if that was confusing, please try to understand... :P -To find out how many electrons per shell, use this formula: (s*2)*s=e The variable s is the shell level (the first is the closest to the nucleus and in that equation, it would be 1, the shell outside of that is 2, etc.), while e stands for the number of electrons in each shell. So, if you wanted to find the number of electons in shell 4, you have the following: (4*2)*4= 32 electrons -Also, it would be helpful for you to remember that a shell doesn't need to be totally full for there to be the next one (next shell). In that case, the above doesn't apply (it's only to find out the max a shell can hold). -The electromagnetic force "wants" to pull the oppositely charged particles together, while repelling/pushing apart the ones of the same charge (think of magnets). The thing stopping it from crushing/pulling apart or else disfiguring the atom is the strong force, which you can look up if you're interested. I hope this helped! (And actually, thanks for asking, I will now be able to take a test on this stuff and ace it. :D )

Answer 5

The electrons in the outermost shell/orbit are the valence electrons