The thing about electrons is, you can't know "where" they are. They are a tiny bit of speed-crazed fuzz in the micro-micro-micro world.
---
The electron is a very small particle located outside the nucleus. Because they move at speeds near the speed of light the precise location of electrons is hard to pin down. Electrons occupy orbitals, or areas where they have a high statistical probability of occurring.http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookCHEM1.html---
The 'electron cloud' is just a way of picturing the probability distribution. It merely represents the squared modulus of the electron wavefunction.
If we attempt to measure the position of the electron, this wavefunction instantly collapses and the electron appears to be somewhere in the 'electron cloud' with the associated probability. The electron wavefunction will then undergo unitary evolution as described by the Schrodinger Wave Equation, until we measure it again.
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=78589---
Quantum properties
As with all particles, electrons can act as waves. This is called the wave–particle duality and can be demonstrated using the double-slit experiment. The wave-like nature of the electron allows it to pass through two parallel slits simultaneously, rather than just one slit as would be the case for a classical particle. In quantum mechanics, the wave-like property of one particle can be described mathematically as a complex-valued function, the wave function, commonly denoted by the Greek letter psi (ψ). When the absolute value of this function is squared, it gives the probability that a particle will be observed near a location—a probability density.<78>
Electrons are identical particles because they cannot be distinguished from each other by their intrinsic physical properties. In quantum mechanics, this means that a pair of interacting electrons must be able to swap positions without an observable change to the state of the system. The wave function of fermions, including electrons, is antisymmetric, meaning that it changes sign when two electrons are swapped; that is, ψ(r1, r2) = −ψ(r2, r1), where the variables r1 and r2 correspond to the first and second electrons, respectively. Since the absolute value is not changed by a sign swap, this corresponds to equal probabilities. Bosons, such as the photon, have symmetric wave functions instead.<78>
In the case of antisymmetry, solutions of the wave equation for interacting electrons result in a zero probability that each pair will occupy the same location or state. This is responsible for the Pauli exclusion principle, which precludes any two electrons from occupying the same quantum state. This principle explains many of the properties of electrons. For example, it causes groups of bound electrons to occupy different orbitals in an atom, rather than all overlapping each other in the same orbit.<78>(SEE EXAMPLE: Caption:
"Example of an antisymmetric wave function for a quantum state of two identical fermions (MY NOTE: electrons) in a 2-dimensional box. If the particles swap position, the wave function inverts its sign." )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron-------------------------------
(My emphasis in all of the above.)
-------------------------------
Now, in the above scientific discussions of the electron, swap out the word "electron" and replace it with the word "election." Only then can you know where your vote is, at this near midnight hour of American democracy. Your vote is a blip on a screen in the nerd basement at ES&S headquarters--the corp that just bought out Diebold and now has an 80% monopoly on U.S. voting machines, all run on 'TRADE SECRET' proprietary programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls. ES&S is a corp whose initial funder and major investor was billionaire recluse Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals (among other things). Election electronics are very like the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the Middle Ages: elusive. Or, as the Church calls it, "a mystery." See "Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Chalcedon ).
You may wonder at the "mysteries" of U.S. elections. Wonder no more. They are a wedding of the Council of Chalcedon with the very latest in Particle Physics, that electrons...or, rather, elections...have no location.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
