thefrogman:

The thing I learned today is that my view of electrons was completely bogus.

In school we are all taught about atoms and their components. You’ve got the protons, the neutrons, and some electrons buzzing around the nucleus. We are then shown this generic model of an atom. 

The problem is, those electrons are way too close to the nucleus. I know it needs to be distorted to make a practical diagram, but I was never taught the extent of this distortion. In reality, electrons are far far far far away.

If an atom was the size of a football stadium, the nucleus would be the size of a lady bug crawling on the 50 yard line. The electrons would be buzzing around the cheap seats. Atoms are mostly empty space. 

Put another way, let’s say this tiny red dot is the nucleus and the sheep is the electron. 

The sheep should probably be 1,000 times smaller than the red dot, but I think you get the point I’m trying to make.