Why is the electron the only particle dominating technology?

[Harold Y]

Harold Y here from Maker Forum.

This line of questioning is hard to exactly pin down, I'm researching and exploring why the "electron"
soley has dominated technology to where electricty and electronics is so ubiquitous in our daily lives
with endless examples of use from radio to TV to musical instruments to machine shops, computers,
music etc. etc. etc. etc..........

Why THAT one particle (lepton) is the only particle in the atomic structure to be singled out either by
man or "fate" as the one to lead to all its useages. WHY other atomic and subatomic particles have not
lead to the same ubiquitousness in our daily lives. The answer, "well elctrons are orbiting the nucleus and
are easily dislodged to create a current yada yada yada" does not do it for me. I hope this makes sense.
"WHY just the electron only?"

 

[Nugatory]

Electrons are stable (required to be useful), carry an electric charge (required for current carrying), have half-integral spin (required for chemical bonding), are light and relatively weakly bound so are highly mobile in solids, and they are pretty much everywhere. No other elementary particle has this particular combination of attributes.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

Harold Y here from Maker Forum.

This line of questioning is hard to exactly pin down, I'm researching and exploring why the "electron"
soley has dominated technology to where electricty and electronics is so ubiquitous in our daily lives
with endless examples of use from radio to TV to musical instruments to machine shops, computers,
music etc. etc. etc. etc..........

Why THAT one particle (lepton) is the only particle in the atomic structure to be singled out either by
man or "fate" as the one to lead to all its useages. WHY other atomic and subatomic particles have not
lead to the same ubiquitousness in our daily lives. The answer, "well elctrons are orbiting the nucleus and
are easily dislodged to create a current yada yada yada" does not do it for me. I hope this makes sense.
"WHY just the electron only?"

You've labeled your thread start with the "B" basic prefix, which is fine. Can you say a bit more about your school background so far? That would help us to do a better job of explaining this for you.

A basic Solid State Physics class in undergrad (for Physicists or Engineers) would give you a much better feel for why electrons are the main carriers of charge for currents in circuits. Concepts like the conduction band in conductors and semiconductors and the concept of the valence band help to explain the questions you are asking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_and_conduction_bands

 

[Harold Y]

Electrons are stable (required to be useful), carry an electric charge (required for current carrying), have half-integral spin (required for chemical bonding), are light and relatively weakly bound so are highly mobile in solids, and they are pretty much everywhere. No other elementary particle has this particular combination of attributes.

Thanks for that answer. Close to the info I am looking for.

So the electron is so very unique that it is the only particle capable of offering the characteristic of
being such a workhorse at the atomic level for everyday practical use. There is a philosophical aspect
to this question as how in the realm of human affairs the electron reared its head and became so
obvious as an entity that humans should consider it and study it. This has resulted in the avalanche
of revealed possibilities with discovery of various electrical components (vehicles) to be developed.
In other words, if knowledge is revealed to humans by the universe according to a timeline of mental evolution, the electron and its possibilities for service to mankind has been given exposure over other
attributes of nature. Was it simply the pondering of lightning by Benjamin Franklin that caused such
focus on the electron? Personally I doubt that was the historical moment of focus on the phenomena
of electricity and its workhorse particle the electron. I suspect that there is another attraction (no pun intended) to the to the serendipity of discovery of the electron and its unique properties.

I could have just accepted that the electron is what it is and just accept that there are mathematical laws
and time honored principles that make up up electrical and electronic circuits and devices, ohms law,
Kirchoffs law, etc., but this POV fascinates me especially as one tries to understand particle physics.

 

[berkeman]

Woo-wee. Thread locked temporarily for Moderation...

 

[Drakkith]

The answer, "well elctrons are orbiting the nucleus and
are easily dislodged to create a current yada yada yada" does not do it for me. I hope this makes sense.
"WHY just the electron only?"

...but that's the gist of the only answer we can give you. Science deals with observable things that act in a way that can be described by mathematical laws, giving us the ability to make accurate predictions which lets us build useful devices. There are no deeper explanations here. The electron has unique properties that enable it alone amongst all other particles to be used by us to create light bulbs, generators, batteries, motors, and every other kind of electrical and electronic device.

Of course this leaves out the fact that protons and neutrons are also required for every one of these devices, they just don't move around much except perhaps in batteries. Electrons can't travel along a wire if there are no protons and neutrons to form the lattice that helps hold the whole thing together, after all.

There is a philosophical aspect
to this question as how in the realm of human affairs the electron reared its head and became so
obvious as an entity that humans should consider it and study it.

There's not one that I can see. All that was required was for someone (or some group of people more likely) to make the requisite advances in theory and experiment. Whatever philosophy you can come up will not change how particles work.

 

[Drakkith]

Since this thread is not about the physics of electrons, but about philosophy, which we don't discuss here at PF, the thread will remain locked. If you have any non-philosophical questions about electrons feel free to make a new thread.