Why Are Electrons Doomed to Remain Forever... | The New Enlightenment Age

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"Before anything else, we need a new age of Enlightenment."

- Friedrich Durrenmatt

We are all human; more specifically, we are all composed of the following elements:

Oxygen (65%) and hydrogen (10%) are predominantly found in water, which makes up about 60 percent of the body by weight. It's practically impossible to imagine life without water.

Carbon (18%) is synonymous with life. Its central role is due to the fact that it has four bonding sites that allow for the building of long, complex chains of molecules. Moreover, carbon bonds can be formed and broken with a modest amount of energy, allowing for the dynamic organic chemistry that goes on in our cells.

Nitrogen (3%) is found in many organic molecules, including the amino acids that make up proteins, and the nucleic acids that make up DNA.

Calcium (1.5%) is the most common mineral in the human body — nearly all of it found in bones and teeth. Ironically, calcium's most important role is in bodily functions, such as muscle contraction and protein regulation. In fact, the body will actually pull calcium from bones (causing problems like osteoporosis) if there's not enough of the element in a person's diet.

Phosphorus (1%) is found predominantly in bone but also in the molecule ATP, which provides energy in cells for driving chemical reactions.

Potassium (0.25%) is an important electrolyte (meaning it carries a charge in solution). It helps regulate the heartbeat and is vital for electrical signaling in nerves.

Sulfur (0.25%) is found in two amino acids that are important for giving proteins their shape.

Sodium (0.15%) is another electrolyte that is vital for electrical signaling in nerves. It also regulates the amount of water in the body.

Chlorine (0.15%) is usually found in the body as a negative ion, called chloride. This electrolyte is important for maintaining a normal balance of fluids.

Magnesium (0.05%) plays an important role in the structure of the skeleton and muscles. It also is necessary in more than 300 essential metabolic reactions.

Iron (0.006%) is a key element in the metabolism of almost all living organisms. It is also found in hemoglobin, which is the oxygen carrier in red blood cells. Half of women don't get enough iron in their diet.

Fluorine (0.0037%) is found in teeth and bones. Outside of preventing tooth decay, it does not appear to have any importance to bodily health.

Zinc (0.0032%) is an essential trace element for all forms of life. Several proteins contain structures called "zinc fingers" help to regulate genes. Zinc deficiency has been known to lead to dwarfism in developing countries.

Copper (0.0001%) is important as an electron donor in various biological reactions. Without enough copper, iron won't work properly in the body.

Iodine (0.000016%) is required for making of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolic rate and other cellular functions. Iodine deficiency, which can lead to goiter and brain damage, is an important health problem throughout much of the world.

Selenium (0.000019%) is essential for certain enzymes, including several anti-oxidants. Unlike animals, plants do not appear to require selenium for survival, but they do absorb it, so there are several cases of selenium poisoning from eating plants grown in selenium-rich soils.

Chromium (0.0000024%) helps regulate sugar levels by interacting with insulin, but the exact mechanism is still not completely understood.

Manganese (0.000017%) is essential for certain enzymes, in particular those that protect mitochondria — the place where usable energy is generated inside cells — from dangerous oxidants.

Molybdenum (0.000013%) is essential to virtually all life forms. In humans, it is important for transforming sulfur into a usable form. In nitrogen-fixing bacteria, it is important for transforming nitrogen into a usable form.

Cobalt (0.0000021%) is contained in vitamin B12, which is important in protein formation and DNA regulation.

We all share a common birthplace, namely the crucibles of supernovae.

Disregard perceived differences. Let us learn to live together. Let us become enlightened!

Why Are Electrons Doomed to Remain Forever Separated from Their Beloved Protons?
We all know the story. Electrons and protons are attracted to each other. That’s why a balloon rubbed on hair clings to clothes. The electrons it gained are crying out for protons and dragging the rest of the balloon along with them. But electrons and protons are right next to each other in the atom. Why don’t they just smoosh together?
Learning science is a lot like learning history; when you get to one class what you learn is that the things you learned in the last class, or in the last four years of high school, was wrong. Often, the teachers of the previous class get terribly resentful about this, and slip in little previews of what you’ll be learning a few years from now. This adds some confusion for students and not a little crankiness for the later professors, but it is somewhat less surprising to learn, for example, that the model of an atom that has served so faithfully when describing bonds and electric flow and such simply doesn’t hold up when you want to learn why the electron and the proton, which apparently are so enamored of each other that they’ll pull together your laundry every time you take it out of the dryer, don’t just rush at each other when they’re staring at each other over the radius of, say, a hydrogen atom. A hydrogen atom has one central proton, which apparently attracts electrons, and one electron, which attracts protons, orbiting planet-like, around it. Despite their desire for each other, they don’t just cross that tiny distance and come together in a torrid subatomic night of passion, and that makes no sense (in many ways, I suspect).
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Why Are Electrons Doomed to Remain Forever Separated from Their Beloved Protons?

We all know the story. Electrons and protons are attracted to each other. That’s why a balloon rubbed on hair clings to clothes. The electrons it gained are crying out for protons and dragging the rest of the balloon along with them. But electrons and protons are right next to each other in the atom. Why don’t they just smoosh together?

Learning science is a lot like learning history; when you get to one class what you learn is that the things you learned in the last class, or in the last four years of high school, was wrong. Often, the teachers of the previous class get terribly resentful about this, and slip in little previews of what you’ll be learning a few years from now. This adds some confusion for students and not a little crankiness for the later professors, but it is somewhat less surprising to learn, for example, that the model of an atom that has served so faithfully when describing bonds and electric flow and such simply doesn’t hold up when you want to learn why the electron and the proton, which apparently are so enamored of each other that they’ll pull together your laundry every time you take it out of the dryer, don’t just rush at each other when they’re staring at each other over the radius of, say, a hydrogen atom. A hydrogen atom has one central proton, which apparently attracts electrons, and one electron, which attracts protons, orbiting planet-like, around it. Despite their desire for each other, they don’t just cross that tiny distance and come together in a torrid subatomic night of passion, and that makes no sense (in many ways, I suspect).

∞ Feb 24th, 2012 at 3:48 pm