The Wonders of the Electron Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph John Thomson

Lyell was a British geologist. While de Broglie and Rutherford both made enormous contributions to our understanding of atomic structure and dynamics, it was J.J. Thomson, by analyzing the deflection of cathode rays under the influence of varying magnetic and electrical fields, who first received credit for nailing down the electron as a fundamental constituent of all matter.

Answer: Light

Electrons get a boost of energy when they absorb electromagnetic radiation (light energy) which allows them to jump to higher energy levels. The process in reverse causes the electron to release the light energy and return to the lower or ground state. Incidentally, astronomers use measurements of absorption lines across the spectrum of visible light to determine the chemical composition of stars.

It's important here to note the intrinsic relationship between the orbits electrons can occupy and the amount of energy they can emit or absorb. Gamma and X-rays are far too powerful for electrons to absorb their energy, given the strict parameters of atomic orbital structure (it would be like trying to boost your car with a nuclear warhead).

Beta Decay also involves electrons but more specifically refers to the energy spontaneously given off by unstable elements, like uranium, as they gradually transform into more stable "isotopes", or forms of the same element.

Answer: Positron

A photon is a particle of light and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Bosons are a class of subatomic particles which act as force carriers, of which the photon is one. Electrolytes are simply ions in solution which help regulate important physiological functions (e.g. blood pressure).

Answer: Leptons

The Standard Model is a method of classifying the basic constituents of all matter and the forces governing them. A particle's mass, spin, and charge determine how it behaves with respect to other particles and, thus, its position in the Standard Model. Quarks are matter particles, bosons are force carriers and muons are cousins of electrons in the lepton grouping, with the same charge and spin but significantly more mass.

Answer: By proposing that electrons travel in discrete orbits

Danish physicist Niels Bohr was among the first scientists to take a hard look at the counter-intuitive way matter behaves at the subatomic level. He formulated a model of the atom in which electrons travel around the atom like planets around the sun but are not free to migrate between specific orbits. The orbits Bohr derived were demonstrated to be at fixed energy levels and only a certain number of electrons could occupy any orbit at one time. Electrons could jump from one orbit to another by absorbing or emitting packets, or 'quanta', of light energy of specific frequencies, thus leading the way to the modern quantum mechanical interpretation of atomic structure.

New Zealander Ernest Rutherford is credited with first splitting the atom by using high-energy particles to bombard nitrogen gas, in which a small amount of hydrogen was produced. Research by Henri Becquerel, along with that done by Pierre and Marie Curie, is considered the foundation of our understanding of radioactive decay.

While there is an element called bohrium, named after Professor Bohr, there is no evidence he ever fired X-rays at it (although we don't know what he did on Saturday nights).

Answer: Propagating waves with a statistical probability of occupying a specific orbital

This is where things get really strange! Louis de Broglie applied Einstein's conclusions about photons (that they behave as both particles and waves) to electrons. The quantum mechanical model of subatomic dynamics (to which de Broglie's applications proved critical) expresses, for example, the position of the electron particle as a wave function. The wave function is based on a series of equations which formulate the probability that the electron will be found at a certain position around the nucleus, from right next to it to infinitely far away from it. Quantum mechanics goes on to state that the act of measuring the electron's position causes the wave function, expressing all possible positions, to instantaneously collapse to the position measured. Until the measurement, the electron literally behaves as though it occupies all positions at once. Experiment after experiment, designed to specifically prove that this can't possibly be how particles actually behave, has led to the universal acceptance that all particles, in fact, behave in this bizarre, counter-intuitive fashion. So much for Isaac Newton.

The particle occupying the Higgs field is the ever-elusive Higgs boson, or 'God particle'. And while there are spooky disturbances of energy, called 'virtual particles', that spontaneously flit in and out of vacuum space, these aren't electrons although they certainly can exert an influence on electrons (e.g. in static electricity).

Finally, the last thing you would ever describe an electron as being is 'locked' into an orbit. In fact, everything that make electrons so fascinating is their ability to move from orbit to orbit and even share orbits with electrons from other atoms.

Answer: To drive chemiosmotic proton pumps to produce high-energy ATP molecules

While electrons do form the covalent bonds necessary to produce complex polysaccharides and would be useful agents in the reduction of ion concentrations in cells, the mechanisms specifically underlying respiration and photosynthesis rely heavily on the energy of electrons to drive the chemical pumps that create a build-up of hydrogen ions, which is then used to drive the reactions needed to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

The complex and yet highly efficient system of ATP production in plant and animal cells is an example of biochemistry at its most beautiful. It takes energy from the sun (plants) or food energy (animals) and converts it into an energy form that cells and tissues can readily use. At the heart of these processes is an elegant electron transport system geared toward the creation of an internal proton gradient which is linked to the production of ATP, a portable molecule with high bond-energy essential to organic functioning. In fact, even with very little physical activity, the average person uses the equivalent of about 40kg of ATP per day!

Answer: The cosmic microwave background

The cosmic microwave background radiation - referred to variously as 'the face' or 'fingerprint' of God - is our clearest glimpse of the structure of the early universe. Cosmologists refer to this moment when atoms first formed as recombination, and the formation of these atoms allowed photons of light to travel freely - that is, without constant colliding and interacting with other particles. This light has since been stretched by the expansion of the universe to the microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum and appears as a ubiquitous microwave 'glow' in the sky. This 'glow' was first discovered, by accident, by Bell Labs radio astronomers Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias who were measuring signals from the Milky Way and, try as they might, couldn't get rid of an annoying, unwanted "noise" from their signals. This "noise" was later proven to be evidence of this tremendously important cosmic event. Wilson and Penzias received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 for their unexpected discovery; no one was more astonished by the announcement than they were.

The Large Hadron Collider, near Geneva, Switzerland, is being used by physicists from around the world to smash sub-atomic particles together at tremendous speeds and energies in an effort to discover the physical laws and conditions which gave rise to our universe. While a marvel of engineering in its own right, it's simply not designed to detect traces of the radiation from the early universe. Auroras are caused by charged particles from the sun, and pulsar radiation refers to the highly focused beams of electromagnetic radiation produced by strong magnetic field lines around neutron stars and has nothing to do with electromagnetic radiation from the early universe.

Answer: An electron's spin can be used as a data storage form without the application of an electric current

Electrons will always orient themselves in one of two spin-states: "spin up" and "spin down", analogous to the use of 0 and 1 in conventional digital data encoding. The exciting thing for computer manufacturers is that, unlike the manipulation of electrons (i.e. voltage levels) in conventional electronics, these spin-states don't necessarily require the application of an electric current to measure or control them. Data can also be stored in a natural configuration without the need for conventional data storage devices which rely on integrated circuit assemblies and a constant application of current. Thus, spintronic devices hold out the promise of greater data-processing potential, cheaper material costs and lower power consumption.

Exploiting the natural 'up' or 'down' spin-state of an electron doesn't suddenly endow it with magical properties, like infinite storage capacity. Quantum computing, which has the potential to exploit the ability of sub-atomic particles to exist in multiple states at once and therefore compute multiple algorithmic inputs simultaneously, will tremendously increase processing speed, but this still won't endow computers with 'infinite' storage capacity. Nor are 'spintronic' devices resistant to magnetic fields - quite the opposite, in fact. Magnetic fields would actually be used to both detect and manipulate spin-states into desired configurations.
Finally, spinning electrons wouldn't be self-cooling. The heat given off by any electronic device would still require fans to cool them. However, because 'spintronics' devices don't require the constant application of electric current to store data, there would, inherently, be less heat and, therefore, less need for bulky cooling apparatus.

Answer: Ten million

Photomultiplier arrays, like the one at the Super-Kamiokande facility in Japan, are used to isolate rare particle interactions by capturing and amplifying the light given off by these events. The extreme precision and sensitivity of these arrays offer astrophysicists an opportunity to search for possible sources of dark matter, the elusive interstellar substance which cosmologists insist must exist but which, using the most sophisticated devices and techniques available to them in the early 21st century, they have, as yet, been unable to find.