So we're saying we have answers, but we're not sure what the questions are - LOL. Too true.
Dnk - did you ever think this would go this far?
One thing I forgot to mention earlier regarding what John said....
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The Earth orbits the sun at over 60,000 miles per hour and uses no energy doing it. In the same way, electrons somehow just keep orbiting those nucleii (not in elliptical orbits, but in kind of fuzzy, probabilistic shells).
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The earth is held in orbit by the sun's gravitational attraction. Electrons, being negatively charged particles, are held in orbit by electrical attraction to the atom's nucleus, which is positive. The nucleus in the center is just a collection of neutrons (nutral charge) and protons (positive charges). Since opposing charges attract (and like charges repel), the negative electrons are held in place by the large positive nucleus. More on this attracting and repelling forces stuff later if anyone is interested.
It's a little more complex than that, and atoms really don't like having just one electron in the outer shell, even if it balances electrically. So that outer electron can easily be moved by force, or even become a free electron.
Radar
