Electron

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Electrons are elementary particles with a negative electric charge with spin ½.

The electron is the lightest electrically charged lepton. The corresponding anti particle is the positron. Electrons and positrons are fermions.

F E R M I O N S

L e p t o n s

E l e c t r o n s

e⁻
electron e⁺
positron

Electrons move in an atom. The atomic nucleus consists of protons and neutrons.

The elementary charge e is the electric charge of a single electron, or equivalently, the opposite of the electric charge of a single proton. One gram of hydrogen gas contains about 10²⁴ protons, that is 3 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 quarks.

The electron was discovered in 1897 by the British physicist J. J. Thomson.