CHAPTER VIII 

 THE ELECTRON 



THE electron, discovered in the last years of the 19th 

 century, has indicated the electrical composition of 

 matter. Although we spoke of the realities of science 

 as matter and energy, we might equally well speak of 

 electricity and energy, as we shall see in succeeding 

 chapters. The concept of the electron has already 

 explained many perplexing phenomena and, of course, 

 raised new questions itself. The atoms of chemistry 

 are no longer regarded as indivisible particles. An 

 atom, we have reason to believe, always consists of a 

 number of electrons and another part which is called 

 the " nucleus. " These electrons are little bits of 

 electricity. 1 



Further than to say that electrons are electricity 

 we cannot go. We can say that matter is molecular, 

 that molecules are composed of atoms, and that atoms 

 are formed of electrons. In finding how the matter 

 of the universe is composed scientists have at last 

 reached the electron. In terms of it they can explain 



1 But what is electricity ? Sometimes it is supplied to us over 

 wires from a power plant and utilized in a wire device like an elec- 

 tric lamp. What then happens is, that the power plant pumps, or 

 forces, a procession of these electrons through the wires, making 

 them hot and that of the lamp white hot. The heat comes from 

 the work done by the stream of electrons in their passage through the 

 wire. 



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