When we visualize what is going on with the electrons in these interactions, it is not difficult to imagine them as tiny physical dust-like particles. Electrons have mass, charge, angular momentum, an intrinsic magnetic moment and helicity, but they have no known substructure.

Stable isotopes do not decay into other elements. The less abundant stable isotope(s) of an element have one or two additional neutrons than protons, and thus are heavier than the more common stable isotope for those elements.

Stable, isotopes, on the other hand, do not decay. What determines whether an isotope is stable or unstable, and if it is unstable, how unstable it is (i.e., how short it’s half life is) depends on the energy of the configuration of that particular nucleus.

Of the three subatomic particles, the electron has the smallest mass. The mass of an electron is 1/1840 of an atomic mass unit (amu).

neutron

To answer your fundamental question: No, all matter is not made up of photons. There are other fundamental constituents such as quarks and leptons.

The electrons are allowed to exist at certain very precise energies, but their position is spread out, described by this “wave of probability.” If you use enough outside energy to eject an electron from an atom, then this probability wave collapses to a much smaller size, thereby allowing you to know its position much …

1) If an electron is in the electric field of a nucleus, the electron can occupy only certain energy levels. When it is sitting on one of these energy levels, it does not radiate, it does not loose energy. In fact, there is a nonzero probability of finding an electron anywhere in our universe.

When an electron temporarily occupies an energy state greater than its ground state, it is in an excited state. An electron can become excited if it is given extra energy, such as if it absorbs a photon, or packet of light, or collides with a nearby atom or particle.

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