Electrons and You

For full disclosure: My wife and I are both scientists, though I consider myself more of a "thinker" than a scientist in general.  We rarely speak about chemistry in our normal conversations, but our favorite joke is usually "Are you positive?"  "Yes."  "Did you lose an electron?"

 Oh yea, I went there.

(Source: http://goo.gl/43kk)

So what exactly are electrons?  Well, that's a pretty complicated question, and I will try to give you some basic answers with a lot of interesting links.  When atoms were first being studied, it was difficult to look solely at the individual parts that make up an atom (the protons, neutrons, and electrons).  Atoms were presented using a variety of different models.  One that is still in use today is the Bohr Model of the atom.  My favorite is the Pudding Model, however.

  Atoms are delicious and nutritious!

(Source: http://goo.gl/Ecewf)

 These models attempt to explain the relative positions of the protons, neutrons, and electrons, relative to the theories at the time.  Electrons (usually the plum bits in the pudding), were almost always relegated to the outside of the nucleus.  Ernest Rutherford performed a famous experiment that said rather than pudding, atoms are mostly empty space, with electrons account for a very small portion of the actual atomic density.  But electrons are where the magic happens.

These flying little particle/waves (don't worry if that sounds like a contradiction, I'll hit on this later) can transfer between atoms, giving and creating positive / negative charge, can be shared, or can become "free floating" inside of materials (atomic scaffolding like metals, etc).  Simply by moving back and forth, electrons change the properties of atoms drastically and producing chemical reactions.  The periodic table is also based on an atom's electronic properties, and new, exciting materials coming out of modern science exploit some of the basic properties of electrons.

I've listed a few reasons electrons are quite possibly the most important aspect of chemistry.  However, continuing research is still trying to make sense of all of the science behind these little yellow wonders (aside: am I the only one that thinks of electrons as yellow?)

 Like this yellow.

(Source: http://goo.gl/1JNfi) 

Thanks to everyone reading my blog, and the encouragement that I've received to continue.  I hope this new post satisfies, and look for more to come!