Science rounds off the electron
British scientists have confirmed that electrons, subatomic particles that carry a negative electric charge, are almost a perfect sphere in shape.
The experiment by Imperial College London scientists spanning over a decade suggests that the electron differs from being perfectly round by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 cm. This means if the electron was magnified to the size of the solar system, it would still appear spherical to within the width of a human hair, the physicists explained in a study published in Nature.
Researchers with a very precise laser measured the motion of the electrons inside molecules called Ytterbium Fluoride. “If the electrons were not perfectly round then, like an unbalanced spinning-top, their motion would exhibit a distinctive wobble, distorting the overall shape of the molecule,” the study explained, but there was no sign of such a wobble.
The results of the experiment are important in the study of antimatter, an elusive substance that behaves in the same way as ordinary matter, except that it has an opposite electrical charge. The antimatter version of the negatively charged electron is the positively charged anti-electron, called positron. Understa-nding the shape of the electron could help researchers understand how positrons behave and how antimatter and matter might differ.
“We’re really pleased we’ve been able to improve our knowledge of one of the basic building blocks of matter,” said research co-author Jony Hudson.
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