How many electrons lined up equals one inch?

Answer 1

In today's physics models for particles, electrons are considered to be point particles which means that they have no measurable size. Based on that there could be an infinite number of electrons in an inch. That would be a problem, however, because electrons repel each other, so having an infinite number of them in an inch would be physically impossible. There is no definite answer.

There are some other "sizes" or distances associated with electrons, but none of them actually measure their diameter. If the mass of the electron was attributed totally to the electromagnetic potential energy we would say the electron is 2.818 fm. This is known as the "classical radius of the electron." It ignores any quantum mechanical properties, and for electrons that's a bad thing to do. That would also make the electron larger than the proton (whose size we can measure experimentally), and we know that's not true.

If we use an analysis called the Compton effect, we can associate a wave with the electron and let the wavelength of that wave give us an idea of the size. Calculating the Compton wavelength of the electron we get 2.42 pm, about 1000 times larger than the classical radius, so we know that, too, is not the actual size.

If we used the smaller of these two (which is still too large), we could fit 9 X 10^{12} electrons. This would be a total charge of 1.44 microcoulombs, which is reasonably small.

Answer 2

If the radius of an electron is admitted to be 10(ex. -22) m this value may be 12,7.10 (ex.19) electrons.

The diameter of an electron is less than 1/1000 the diameter of a proton. A proton has a diameter of approximately 1/25,000,000,000,000 inch (0.000000000001 mm). Accordingly, the diam of electron = 1/25,000,000,000,000, 000 inch. So, the number of electrons that equal one inch is 25,000,000,000,000, 000 electrons or 25 x E15 electrons.

Answer 3

The diameter of an electron is less than 1/1000 the diameter of a proton. A proton has a diameter of approximately 1/25,000,000,000,000 inch (0.000000000001 mm). Accordingly, the diam of electron = 1/25,000,000,000,000, 000 inch. So, the number of electrons that equal one inch is 25,000,000,000,000, 000 electrons or 25 x E15 electrons.

Answer 4

If the radius of an electron is admitted to be 10(ex. -22) m this value may be 12,7.10 (ex.19) electrons.

Answer 5

Approximately 1,973,000,000,000,000,000 electrons would need to be lined up side by side to span one inch.