Electron

The electron is a building block of the atom. Its mass is 1836 times smaller than that of the proton and neutron. The electron charge is negative and is fixed to be:

e = 1.602,176,634·10^-19 C

The name is derived from the Greek word elektron (ἤλεκτρον), meaning "amber".

History

The existence of the electron was first demonstrated in 1897 by the English physicist Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940).

Related concepts

• activiteit
• atom
• decay constant
• electromagnetic radiation
• half-life
• molecule
• neutrino
• neutron
• nuclear decay
• positron
• proton
• X-radiation