Penning Trap

Geminex · 04-27-2010, 10:27 PM

I was under the impression that they're saying that, while in a normal atom, the force holding the electrons "in orbit" would be provided by the force between the electron's negative and the nucleus' positive charge. Here, they're just putting electrons in and keeping them in orbit by surrounding them with magnetic and electric fields.

Apologies for my inexpert terminology, I haven't done physics in a while.

04-27-2010, 10:27 PM	#7
Geminex SOM3WH3R3 Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4,606	I was under the impression that they're saying that, while in a normal atom, the force holding the electrons "in orbit" would be provided by the force between the electron's negative and the nucleus' positive charge. Here, they're just putting electrons in and keeping them in orbit by surrounding them with magnetic and electric fields. Apologies for my inexpert terminology, I haven't done physics in a while.