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This one just tickles me pink: the electron has mass but has no dimensions.

A model of an atom, showing an electron.

However, this is not what an atom really

looks like, nor is it what an electron looks

like. But it is colorful.

Simply put, electrons do exist. You could, in theory, weigh one, but you couldn’t measure it’s width—or it’s height or depth, for that matter. No skin, no bones, no structure. It’s what’s referred to as a point particle, meaning that it does not have spatial extension, it does not take up (occupy) any space.

See, it's believed that electrons, one of the essential parts of an atom, are an elementary particle. That is, they are as small as the components of matter get. Since they have no component parts that are smaller than themselves—they have no components at all!

As far as I’m concerned, that there is just plenty enough to boggle the mind for one day.

But there’s more.

If you're among my two avid readers, you might recall that electrons, which operate within the realm of quantum mechanics, spin, some one way, some another, but two can never occupy the same quantum spinning state. But think about this: they spin, despite the fact that they have no surface or structure that can actually move one way or another. You’ll remember, from our glance at quantum entanglement and the Pauli Exclusion Principle, that if one of the electrons spins one way the other has to spin opposite. Just think about it: the little devils spin—even though they've got nothin’ to spin with!

How can you not love particle physics?

This is starting to remind me of that ride at Disney, you know, the Haunted Mansion? Spectral dancers spinning but nobody there. Ghostly heads riding along with you.

I’m thinking that maybe quantum physics depends a lot more on a vivid imagination than it does on math skills.

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