Basic question.  If electrons are stipped from atoms to form an electric current, why doesn't the atomic/molecular structure of the material from which they are stripped change?  Don't all atoms have to have a certain number of electrons?
120592
Removing electrons from an atom is called ionization. Even though an electron is stripped from atom, its mass is not changed since loss of electron is very insignificant. Ofcourse, when electrons are stripped from atom it becomes more positively charged than before since it lost an electron. So structure remains but difference comes in how negatively or positively charged an atom is. Adding electrons makes it more more negatively charged and removing electrons makes atom more and more positively charged.
670162
You asked several questions.  My answer applies to the generation of "free electrons".\n   If you can, picture the structure of an electronic vacuum tube, the invention of which (the triode, at least) is attributed to Lee Deforest. Thomas Edison worked on  similar devices.\n1) A material (such as Thorium) is electrically heated to a temperature such that electrons are "boiled off" and are electrostatically attracted to a positively (voltage) charged "plate" in a vacuum.  This flow of free electrons is a current (amperes).\n2) These electrons are NOT recycled.  The Thorium gradually deteriorates - is worn out.  \n3)  In a similar manner, this may be a source of electrons in the devices you mention.
434795
Yes it sort-of works for a hydrogen atom.\nYou do need to know about electric field attraction.\n\nthe attraction of charges pulls the electron in, the angular motion holds it from being pulled all the way.\n\nAlthough this model (planetary model) is wrong, it is amazing how close it comes considering that it is so far from what we believe to be true!!
445118
No elements are there.\n(If it would have been there, one would have to discover another quantum number in order to distinguish between them).\n& like the previous answerer said it would have been violated the Pauli's exclusion principle.\nThe quantum numbers are there to distinguish between different electrons.
364383
This is a very simplistic description of a complex process.\n\nWell because He, Ar ,Ne have more electrons, protons and so are different to H in that the interactions between the electrons themselves and between the electrons and their nuclei are different.\n\nClearly if there are more electrons then there are more  to be able to jump into higher energy levels and then return via a number of different ways (single or multiple steps). So the absorption/emission spectra would reflect the variations in these elements. Since the steps require different energy to hydrogen owing to differences in orbital sizes and electron numbers then the energy quanta required/emitted will also be different and so different lines on the spectrum.
672415
An electronic structure would be a neuron, as it conducts ions along the length of the axon.  This change in ion concentration is equivalent to a difference in volts, ie electrical charge.
514740
Okay this is kind of confusing but here goes...  Atoms have energy levels right?  There are sublevels to each major energy level, these are your s, p, d levels.  These sublevels can hold certain amounts of electrons.  S can hold 2.  P can hold 6.  D can hold 10.  These sublevels make up larger energy levels.  In the first major energy level there is only an S sublevel, so overall the first major energy level can oly hold 2 electrons.  In the second energy level there is an S sublevel and a P sublevel for a total of 8 electrons.  This keeps going on and on but I'll stop here    for now to keep it as simple as possible.  \n             Each element has a certain number of electrons.  The number of electrons is the same as its atomic number.  The atomic number is the number in the upper lefthand corner of the element's box on the periodic table.  The numbers go in order accross the table.  He has an atomic number of two.  This means it has two electrons.  You have to figure out which sublevels these electrons fill up.  Because there are only two electrons it can only fill up the first S sublevel.  So it is written    He 1s _2.  The 1 stands for the first major energy level.  The s is the sublevel and the 2 is the number of electrons in the sublevel when He is the element.  For He none of the other energy levels are used.\n             Ne has an atomic number of 10.  It has 10 electrons.  It fills up the first sublevel s and then moves to the second major energy level.  Here it fill up the s sublevel and the p sublevel (P can hold 6 electrons)  It can then be written  Ne 1s_2_2s_2_2p_6    Remember the number in front of the s of the p stands for the major energy level.  The letter( s or p) stands for the sublevel, and the number after the letter stand for the number of electrons in that sublevel for the given element.  Put a 0 in after the level not filled up.  \n         Hope this helps!  It's kind of hard to explain but I tried to make it clear.
472269
Just to clarify on the above response- reactions can only take place when one element "gives" electrons to another (ionic bonding), or "shares" electons with the other (covalent bonding). Both metals want to give electons so that all their "electron shells" will be complete.
31100
people have this picture in their head of what an atomic electron is like - it's a little ball and it whizzes around the nucleus really fast.  but it's not really like that.  \n\nyou have to divorce from your mind the notion that the electron has a single, fixed, localized position.  instead the electron is "spread out" over space, like a big smear in three dimensions.  a lot of chemistry teachers like to fudge this bit by saying that the electron spends "more time" in areas with higher electron-cloud density, but that's not really correct.  if it were, i could see where your confusion might come from - if it was spending some time on one side of the nucleus, it must spend some time getting back to the other side.\n\nthe truth is, in quantum mechanics an electron is "delocalized".  this means that it has no real, fixed position - instead it is spread out over a region or regions of space, and in fact those regions of space need not be connected.  the electron is quite literally in both places at once, not in one place or the other.\n\nthis is a rather small effect in atomic electrons, but if you consider a conducting metal like copper, the "free electrons" that carry electricity are extremely delocalized.  every single electron is basically spread out over the entire piece of copper.  it's kind of hard to picture, but that's why quantum mechanics is hard.\n\nhope this helps.  feel free to email if you'd like to discussit more.
102973
Atoms do have empty spaces but these spaces are according to their size not ours let me elobrate first that we are not composed of atoms we are composed of cells if any one says atoms then tell that person that atoms are non living whereas cells are living some part of our body are dead cells like nails hairs dead skin at the knuckles etc but the rest is all living cells.\n\n\nThings don't fall through other things because they are levitating on an electrostatic field! I am not kidding! When you sit on a chair, you are not really touching it. You see, every atom is surrounded by a shell of electrons. This electron cloud presents a rather negative face to the world. Remember that like charges repel each other. When two atoms approach each other, their electron shells push back at each other, despite the fact that each atom's net charge is 0. This is a very useful feature of nature. It makes our lives a lot easier.\n\nNow the question you should be asking is, if atoms push away from each other, why doesn't the entire universe just blow away from itself? The answer is that some, actually most atoms' electron shells are not full. When two atoms come together and have empty spaces in their electron shells, they will share electrons to fill in the spaces in both of their shells. Yes, the electrons really do go back and forth between atoms and they do so pretty fast. Electrons tend to be kind of mobile, which is also a very nice feature of nature, since without it your walkman would not work. Once both atoms' outer shells are full due to this electron sharing, they go back to their usual repulsive behavior. This, by the way, is how we get molecules and the secret to understanding Chemistry. It's all about the electrons!
583411
No electrons will be emitted.\n\nIn order for the electron to jump to a higher level, or for that matter, be removed all together, they must absorb a specific minimum amount of energy...anything less than this and nothing will happen.\nIf it takes 4 eV to remove the electron and it only absorbs 3 eV, the electron will not be removed.
474797
it says that shooting a certain amount of light on metals will cause it to release electrons.Because that means that light actually can do something, it must be a particle, otherwise it would be something that can't really touch other objects and cause something to happen
620089
Nico, I have no idea what you are talking about.\n\nElectricity is quite simply a movement of electromagnetic charge. Nothing more and nothing less. \n\nAtoms are made up of (amongst other things) protons and electrons. Electrons have a negative electrical charge and neutrons have a positive charge. When an atom has a surplus of electrons it becomes negatively charged and when it has a surplus of protons it has a positive charge.\n\nWhen a charged atom (ion) or even a single electron moves from one place to another that is electricity. \n\nHousehold electricity is a ‘push’ of electrons from a magnetic generator. It exists primarily as a movement of electrons. In contrast the electrical impulses within your muscles and nerves are created by producing a high concentration of metal ions. Such biological electricity exists primarily as a movement of ions.\n\nElectricity isn’t fire or light or anything else in the universe. It is simply what it is, a movement of charge. There really is no other answer.
229102
Not the same electron, but the same number of electrons.  An electron enters one end of a wire, say, and winds up pushing an electron out the other side.  That's a simplified explanation, but that's essentially it.\n\nAnd just to make things confusing, the direction of the current is opposite to the direction of electron flow.  Go figure.
362135
Here is a hint: \n\nThe total number of orbitals wont change no matter what; the number of orbital you end up with is ALWAYS the number orbital you start with. Let's take your first question for example,\n\ntwo atoms will have 6 2p orbital in total (3 2p orbital for each atom); so, there will be 6 MOs formed at the end no matter what; therefore, you need 2*6 =12 electrons to fill the MOs. I believe you can finish the rests from here.
446040
The atoms' electrons absorb the energy (usually from the heat [flame test]). When they do this the extra energy causes the electrons to jump to the next energy level. They (the electrons) then loose the energy and fall back. In doing so give of a (depending on your book, or outlook) wave length of a certain frequency (light color). Or a photon of a certain color.\n\nGet an "A".
231727
Molecules came from atoms combining. Atoms came from protons, neutrons, and electrons combining. Protons and neutrons came from quarks combining. Quarks and electrons came from condensation from the high energy vacuum. Where that came is still a bit up in the air, but look at the website below:\n\nhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060515232747.htm