Click the mouse anywhere in the box. You created
an electron! It's a particle with negative charge
and not much mass.
Yeah, but it just got sucked into the positive
charge and swallowed.
This is an example of the type of interactivity which often retains the interest of the browser -- because he can outflow as well as inflow. However, if he is NOT interested in the subject, then any amount of inflow is too much!
If you are clever you can create "electrons" in the box below that continue to revolve around the center -- and never stop. You can even create many of these. The fact that you can do this may "juice up" your interest enough to motivate you to stay longer on this page than if your click results in the usual action. "Mystery" is a very strong motivator -- people love "mysteries" and will remain interested in a subject just because they have discovered a mystery and want to solve it.
So, try you hand at creating electrons that move around in the box without stop!
|
|
Click the mouse anywhere in the box. You created
an electron! It's a particle with negative charge
and not much mass.
|
 That's
because the positive charge exerts an invisible,
attractive force on the electron -- an
electric force. Try putting the electron in
different places. How long can you keep it alive?
|
|
If I put one near the edge of the box, it gets
sucked in a lot slower. |
Yes
-- the electric force is like an invisible spring,
but as the charges move farther apart, a weaker
spring pulls them together.
Now see what happens when you give the electron a
little "throw" as you set it down. To do this,
click-drag the mouse in any direction. The line shows
the direction of the throw and its length shows the
speed.
Hey, if
I start it off just right, the electron keeps looping
around the proton and never crashes into it. It
would be quite a trick to make the electron rotate
around the nucleus. See if you can give the electron
JUST the right amount of push and direction to "put
it into orbit" around the nucleus?? I've
done it!
If you
did that?? you've
just created an early model of an
atom!
Does
this mean that the electric force is somehow
different when the electron starts with a velocity?
No, the
force, or pull, depends only on where you put it, not
on the velocity. But an electron's motion depends on
both the force on the electron and its velocity,
which are often in different directions. See what
happens when you first click on the button "show
force," and then put an electron down with a velocity
in a different direction.
If you try different forces you can "flip" the
electron out of the box -- it will move toward the
edge and disappear in the void! But, if you
give it JUST THE RIGHT amount of force and direction
it will pop right into orbit and keep on moving
around the center!
Source Of Cartoon Model