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Definition of Electron
E`lec´tron | n. | 1. | Amber; also, the alloy of gold and silver, called electrum. | | 2. | (Physics & Chem.) one of the fundamental subatomic particles, having a negative charge and about one thousandth the mass of a hydrogen atom. The electron carries (or is) a natural unit of negative electricity, equal to 3.4 x 10-10 electrostatic units, and is classed by physicists as a lepton. Its mass is practically constant at the lesser speeds, but increases due to relativistic effects as the velocity approaches that of light. Electrons are all of one kind, so far as is known. Thus far, no structure has been detected within an electron, and it is probably one of the ultimate composite constituents of all matter. An atom or group of atoms from which an electron has been detached has a positive charge and is called a cation. Electrons are projected from the cathode of vacuum tubes (including television picture tubes) as cathode rays and from radioactive substances as the beta rays. Previously also referred to as corpuscle, an obsolete term. The motion of electrons through metallic conductors is observed as an electric current. A particle identical to the electron in mass and most other respects, but having a positive instead of a negative charge, is called a positron, or antielectron |
Related Words
Kern, NMR, alpha particle, antibaryon, antilepton, antimeson, atom, atomic nucleus, atomic particle, baryon, beta particle, cathode particle, electron affinity, electron cloud, electron pair, electron shells, electron spin, electron transfer, electron-positron pair, elementary particle, energy level, excited state, extranuclear electrons, ground state, ion, lepton, lone pair, meson, molecule, monad, negatron, neutron, nuclear force, nuclear magnetic resonance, nuclear particle, nuclear resonance, nucleon, nucleosynthesis, nucleus, octet, orbital electron, photoelectron, photon, proton, quark, recoil electron, secondary electron, shared pair, strangeness, strong interaction, subvalent electrons, surface-bound electron, thermion, triton, valence electron, valence electrons, valence shell, wandering electron
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