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Electron
An elementary particle with a unit electrical charge and a mass 1/1837 of the proton. Electrons surround the atom's positively charged nucleus and determine the atom's chemical properties.
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- Atom
- Baryon
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- Electrical Engineering - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, modified from the original write-up by Robert J. Hall
The design, analysis, optimization and implementation of products that utilize electricity and electromagnetism. Includes fullerene semiconductors, molectronics, power systems, transmission and reception of signals, surge protection, motors, control systems, generators, amplifiers, electrical instruments, transceivers, and maser and laser systems. Some electronic engineers are also interested in archaic electrical technology, such as microtech integrated circuits, household appliances, and so on. - Electron Capture Decay - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Nuclear decay by capture of an atomic electron. If the decay energy is greater than 1022 keV, positron emission can also occur in competition with electron capture. - Electron Degeneracy Pressure - Text by Chris Clowes
Highly active "degenerate motion" resulting from electrons being confined in a very small space, such as a plasma under very high pressure, and thus pushing against adjacent electrons. Being determined by the quantum mechanics, this continues even when the matter is at absolute zero. - Hadron - Text by Anders Sandberg
Matter particle consisting of quarks or antiquarks. Hadrons are divided into mesons, composed of a quark and an antiquark, and baryons, composed of three quarks or three antiquarks. - Lepton - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Subatomic particle that is susceptible to the weak nuclear force but not the strong force (the force that binds an atomic nucleus together). There are six leptons: the electron, muon, tau, electron neutrino, muon neutrino, and tau neutrino. - Meson - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Particles composed of a quark and an antiquark; the lowest mass mesons (the pi and K mesons) have masses intermediate between leptons and baryons. All mesons are unstable. - Neutron - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Uncharged atomic nuclear particle. It has a mass slightly greater than a proton. In beta decay, a neutron decays into a proton, an electron, and an anti-neutrino. - Proton - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
One of the two basic elementary particles found the atomic nucleus, the other being the neutron. It has a positive charge equal and opposite that of the electron, and a mass similar to the neutron. Protons have a mass of 1.007276 daltons, or 1.6726 = 10-27 kg.
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Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 24 October 2001.
Initially published on 24 October 2001.
