Talk:Electronics/Electrons

Protons and neutrons combine to form the atom's nucleus (a force called the strong force holds the protons together), with electrons circling them at a relatively great distance (held near the protons by the fact that they are oppositely charged). (is this even an accurate way to think of it? quantum mechanics, probabilities, etc.)

>> In all reality, getting in to quantum mechanics wouldn't benefit the reader. It's more or less a lesson on the basics of an atom. Getting into quantum mechanics may show how smart you are, but in the end probably won't help someone that is trying to understand.


 * That's very true. Hmm...  I just don't want to give out information that is incorrect, which will confuse them if they ever want to learn more about it, you know?  Like when they teach very basic electricity in high school physics, and you have to "unlearn" things that were simplified (like current direction) in order to learn in-depth electronics later.  We can say things like "the electrons are orbiting the nucleus in shells" but then clarify that in reality this is just a model, which works well for electronics but is not what physicists currently use.  I don't even know about the quantum mechanics myself, I only know that electrons spinning around in shells is not really an accurate idea anymore; it has to do with clouds of probability and electron waves and weird things like that. - Omegatron


 * The debate on 'electron clouds' vs. 'shells' and such probably should be left for a molecular physics textbook. I agree that the idea of shells is simple and easy to learn, although may be slightly flawed in today's sense. For what we're dealing with though, I think we should concentrate on the atom, electrons, and how they pertain to electricity in general. Leave the other stuff for someone that wants to get more in-depth. I know the feeling when you are really skilled at something and cringe at basic lessons and certain incorrect things, but they are a neccesary evil.


 * I agree with Omegatron, you should not give misleading information. I would just give the very basics and leave it at that.  You can see my attempt to explain the basic physics Electron_Device_Modeling:Semiconductor_Physics.  Both the 'electron clouds' and 'shells' are just models.  I have used the shells explanation.  Basically no two electrons can share the same orbit (which is a wave).  There are a number of orbits with different energies (shells).  The first energy level contains two orbits, second energy level contains 8 orbits, ect.  Electrons can jump between orbits in a quantum leap.  So the electrons are not spinning in shells, the shells represent the energy level of the electron in the electron cloud.  Peterblockley 22:58, 27 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * The problem is that this is really hard to understand for someone with no background in the quantum physics. I'm sure it's really easy for you to understand, however the problem is you forget how you interpreted things when you did not know any at all. Your type of articles seem to be targeted at people that already have background in modern physics and a university degree / college diploma.


 * who is this book targeted at? It says a 1st or 2nd year level.  Is this High school?  Or university?  Im not advocating using Electron_Device_Modeling:Semiconductor_Physics for this book (that is why its in a separate book).  On a more general note, is it possible to combine both a full explanation as well as a simplified explanation?  Seems to me this may be possible with the internet as a medium.  What do you think? Peterblockley 03:39, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * It's not true to say that "no two electrons can share the same orbit". If you are going to get into QM you should not talk about orbits at all! QM says that no two electrons can have the same set of quantum numbers. If you think of an "orbit" as being The average distance from the nucleus, (Which is the only sensible way to do it IMO) then there are 2 electrons in the very first orbit. It's all getting way too complicated. Why not just say with electrons to be found at a relatively great distance (held near the protons by the fact that they are oppositely charged). By removing the circling word you get rid of an untruth but don't make it too difficult. Theresa knott 06:56, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * "The aim of this textbook is to educate someone with little or no previous experience in electronics to a 1 or 2 year level."

Basically we're trying to teach someone that hasn't touched electronics before from ground up. 1-2 year level meaning up to college/university. So basically, start from ground 0 and head up.