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From: stew@harvard.ARPA (Stew Rubenstein)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: concrete electrons
Message-ID: <163@harvard.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 20-Nov-84 03:16:56 EST
Article-I.D.: harvard.163
Posted: Tue Nov 20 03:16:56 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 22-Nov-84 07:53:29 EST
References: ihuxr.1225 <10645@brunix.UUCP>
Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard
Lines: 23

> 
> All of which reminds me of a little anecdote from my undergrad days.
> Walt Disney Studios was given the job of designing a logo for the
> nuclear sub project. An artist phoned the UCLA physics dept to ask
> "please, what color is an electron?"
> 
> judith
> brunix!jss

I hope they gave the correct answer.  Every organic chemist knows
that electrons are blue.  The problem is getting them away from the
atom long enough to look at them.  The best way is to dissolve Lithium
or Sodium metal in liquid ammonia.  Result -- a solution of blue
electrons.

Extra credit -- use this information and a slide rule to compute the
size of the solvent cage holding the electron using the old particle-
in-a-three-dimensional-box equation.  Surprisingly enough, it comes
out about right...
-- 
-----------------------
Stew Rubenstein     UUCP: ihnp4!harvard!stew
Harvard Chemistry   ARPA: stew@harvard