Electron found to be almost perfectly round

William Atkins
Thursday, 26 May 2011 22:44

Science - Energy

After a ten-year study of the not-quite-so-simple electron, scientists at Imperial College London stated that the electron's shape is almost a perfect sphere.

 

In fact, according to the May 25, 2011 EurekAlert article 'Electron is surprisingly round, say Imperial scientists following 10 year study,' the electron is just off from being perfectly spherical by less than '0.000000000000000000000000001 cm.' (where cm = centimeter, and 1 cm equals about 0.39 inch). That's 26 zeros, if I counted correctly.

The electron is defined as a subatomic particle, which carries a negative electrical charge. It is considered an elementary particle because it has no known components or substructure.

The EurekAlert article adds, 'This means that 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.'

One of the researchers at Imperial College London involved with the study is physicist Jony Hudson.

Dr. Hudson stated, "We're really pleased that we've been able to improve our knowledge of one of the basic building blocks of matter. It's been a very difficult measurement to make, but this knowledge will let us improve our theories of fundamental physics.'

And, 'People are often surprised to hear that our theories of physics aren't 'finished', but in truth they get constantly refined and improved by making ever more accurate measurements like this one."

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