The Electron Theory

The electron theory, which is now accepted and used to explain the behavior of electricity, states that electric current
consists of electron flow and can be defined as a moving charge. Electricity can be defined, then, as charged matter. Because an
electron, even though smaller than the smallest known microscopic organism, has mass and occupies space, it is matter.
J.J Thompson, Rutherford, Bohr, and Sommerfield studied the structure of an atom in detail. Their studied showed that,
all matter is composed of molecules which are made up of a combination of atoms. Atom has a nucleus in the center containing
neutrons and protons. Revolving around the nucleus are the electrons. Protons carry positive charge; electrons carry negative
charge; and neutrons are neutral carrying neither positive nor negative charge. Under normal circumstances, the number of
electrons and protons in an atom are equal and so the atom is neutral. Within the atom, electrons are capable of moving and
neutrons and protons are not. Their conclusion is that a number of electrons constitute a stable system when they are grouped in
a series of concentric circular rings, very similar to Saturn’s rings, which rotate about a common axis. Stability depends upon
two conditions, namely, (a) upon a certain minimum angular velocity rotation, and (b) upon the presence of at least f(n)
electrons at or near the center of a ring containing electrons. Stability increases when the angular velocity increases above the
critical value and when the number of internal particles is greater than f(n) electrons.
Electron is discovered in 1895 by J. J. Thomson in the form of cathode rays. It was the first elementary particle to be
identified. The charge of the electron is -e ≅ -4.8 × 10-10 esu = -1.6 × 10-19 coulomb. The sign of the electron's charge is
negative by convention, and that of the equally charged proton is positive. This is a somewhat unfortunate convention, because
the flow of electrons in a conductor is thus opposite to the conventional direction of the current.
Electrons are emitted in radioactivity (as beta rays) and in many other decay processes; for instance, the ultimate decay
products of all mesons are electrons, neutrinos, and photons, the meson's charge being carried away by the electrons. The
electron itself is completely stable. Electrons contribute the bulk to ordinary matter; the volume of an atom is nearly all
occupied by the cloud of electrons surrounding the nucleus, which occupies only about 10-13 of the atom's volume. The
chemical properties of ordinary matter are determined by the electron cloud. See Meson, Radioactivity
The electron obeys the Fermi-Dirac statistics, and for this reason is often called a fermion. One of the primary attributes
of matter, impenetrability, results from the fact that the electron, being a fermion, obeys the Pauli exclusion principle; the world
would be completely different if the lightest charged particle were a boson, that is, a particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics.
See Bose-Einstein statistics, Exclusion principle, Fermi-Dirac statistics, Positron
Electrons in the outer band can become free of their orbit by the application of some external force such as movement
through a magnetic field, friction, or chemical action. These are referred to as free electrons. A free electron leaves a void
which can be filled by am electron forced out of orbit from another atom. As free electrons move from one atom to next, an
electron flow is produced. This is the basis of electricity.
Electron Theory of Electrification
1. Every atom consists of equal number of electrons in orbit which have negative charges, and equal number of protons in
the nucleus which have positive charge.
2. The net charge on one electron is the minimum charge on a particle fundamental charge
e = 1.6 x 10-19 coulomb.
3. Net charge on an atom is zero due to equal number of electrons and protons.
4. The excess of electron makes the particle negatively charged. The deficiency of electron makes it positively charged.
Charge Mass Relation
 Zero to positive charge is made when electron leaves the atom and mass decrease.
 Zero to negative charge is made when electron is added in the atom and mass increase.
 Mass of electron: me = 9.1 x 10-31.
Magnetic moment
The electron has magnetic properties by virtue of (a) its orbital motion about the nucleus of its parent atom and (b) its
rotation about its own axis. The magnetic properties are best described through the magnetic dipole moment associated
with 1 and 2. The classical analog of the orbital magnetic dipole moment is the dipole moment of a small current-
carrying circuit. The electron spin magnetic dipole moment may be thought of as arising from the circulation of charge,
that is, a current, about the electron axis; but a classical analog to this moment has much less meaning than that to the
orbital magnetic dipole moment. The magnetic moments of the electrons in the atoms that make up a solid give rise to
the bulk magnetism of the solid.
Spin
That property of an electron which gives rise to its angular momentum about an axis within the electron. Spin is one of
the permanent and basic properties of the electron. Both the spin and the associated magnetic dipole moment of the
electron were postulated by G. E. Uhlenbeck and S. Goudsmit in 1925 as necessary to allow the interpretation of many
observed effects, among them the so-called anomalous Zeeman effect, the existence of doublets (pairs of closely spaced
lines) in the spectra of the alkali atoms, and certain features of x-ray spectra. See Spin (quantum mechanics)
The spin quantum number is s, where s is always ½. This means that the component of spin angular momentum along a
preferred direction, such as the direction of a magnetic field, is ± ½ℏ, where ℏ is Planck's constant h
divided by 2π. The spin angular momentum of the electron is not to be confused with the orbital angular momentum of
the electron associated with its motion about the nucleus. In the latter case the maximum component of angular
momentum along a preferred direction is lℏ, where l is the angular momentum quantum number and may be any
positive integer or zero. See Quantum numbers
The electron has a magnetic dipole moment by virtue of its spin. The approximate value of the dipole moment is the Bohr
magneton μ0 which is equal to eh/4πmc = 9.27 × 10-21 erg/oersted, where e is the electron charge measured in
electrostatic units, m is the mass of the electron, and c is the velocity of light. (In SI units, μ0 = 9.27 × 10-24 joule/tesla.)
The orbital motion of the electron also gives rise to a magnetic dipole moment μl, that is equal to μ0 when l = 1.