A quick word or two about electron “bumping”. We know a couple of things about electrons, that 1) they have relatively strong negative charges, and 2) that negative charges repel one another. So if you tried to shove electrons into a pipe like our billiard ball analogy, the negative charge would make each one appear much larger than it really is, and there would be lots of space between them. The overall effect would still work, each electron pushing the one in front with it’s repelling force, but no actual bumping.
Something that amazes me – if a modest sized atom were expanded in our imaginations to the point that the nucleus were the size of a bowling ball, the nearest electron in the very closest orbit would be represented by a B-B that is a mile or 2 away. Outer orbits are further away yet. And in real life materials, even though atoms are linked chemically, the negative charges of the orbiting electrons maintains lots of space between atoms. So what we see as solid objects actually consists of vast amounts of empty (micro) space.
Radar
