I think that we can see the electrons if we accelerate them to the maximum velocity 0.999 999 999 95C,and by letting these electrons to pass through the center of an evacuated hemisphere of negatively charged surface.
Now if the repulsive force of such surface to the electrons is equal to the force of their energy,they will be localised at the center of the sphere (if the hemisphere is completed to sphere),at this moment we close the connection between the accelerator tube and the hemisphere,then we send a beam of photons to these electrons with an angle of incidence is equal to 90 ,the electrons are in the highest energy state so they can't absorb more energy ,also the electrons are fundamental particles so they can't be destroyed by the extraenergy.
I think we can obtain a live photo to these vibrating electrons via the reflected photons,but we must make the surface which is behind the electrons to be very black in color to absorb the photons that hit it.
The electron is a real problem,when we deal with it as a mass we discover it is a wave and vice versa,however I think the electron is a surprise.

Do you think its that easy?

QUOTE: Originally posted by SN1987A

Do you think its that easy?

really Idon't think that we can see the electron but we can think and dream ,the dreams are free charged,and the thoughts [whatever they are silly]willn't harm anyone.

wildwinter,

Nice try. It won't work. You need to study electron microscopes and their
principles a bit more thoroughly to see why. You don't want photons hanging around electrons in experiments. You'll screw up their energy
levels too much, making muck of the experiment. Other problems exist.

Study electron microscopes...
Electrons can handle shorter wavelengths than any optical equipment can deal with and have to be focused first and then sent through larger, molecular matter where they are scattered into an interference pattern
which magnifies the image....

To put it more plainly, you need something smaller than an electron to look at one....Neutrino research is your only possiblity in this area.

L2U

lost2you2002, I think you may have misunderstood what wildwinter was suggesting.

You are right when you say that we can not see electrons with visible light - photons are larger than electrons, so it would be like trying to feel the surface texture of a golfball by touching it with boxing gloves - but wildwinter suggested that we accelerate it as close to light speed as possible so that Relativity starts to kick in and the electron gains more mass...this gives us some hope...maybe.

When objects move close to the speed of light they gain more mass, as proven by Einstein and many other physicists, but does their volume/size actually increase, or do they stay the same size and simply weigh more?

Where I'm going with this (and I think wildwinter was too) is that if an electron can be accelerated so closely to the speed of light, it might become physically large enough to see because it now has more mass...

Interesting idea...I've never thought of it that way before.

Hmm...on the other hand, imagine the world's first Neutrino Microscope! That would be really cool! What if we used it to see an electron and discovered a barcode or serial number on it? MADE IN TAIWAN. LOL

wildwinter wrote:

I think that we can see the electrons if we accelerate them to the maximum velocity 0.999 999 999 95C,and by letting these electrons to pass through the center of an evacuated hemisphere of negatively charged surface. Now if the repulsive force of such surface to the electrons is equal to the force of their energy,they will be localised at the center of the sphere (if the hemisphere is completed to sphere),at this moment we close the connection between the accelerator tube and the hemisphere,then we send a beam of photons to these electrons with an angle of incidence is equal to 90 ,the electrons are in the highest energy state so they can't absorb more energy ,also the electrons are fundamental particles so they can't be destroyed by the extraenergy. I think we can obtain a live photo to these vibrating electrons via the reflected photons,but we must make the surface which is behind the electrons to be very black in color to absorb the photons that hit it. The electron is a real problem,when we deal with it as a mass we discover it is a wave and vice versa,however I think the electron is a surprise.

I don't think we can because that would prove string theory because string theory says particles are not point particles but strings in a little circle. And I havn't heard of string theory having any direct evidence.

Hi!

My first time here, very interesting discussion.....

There were 2 things that came to mind when I read it...

* in the Standard Model, all particles are still considered point particles......even though that really doesn't make a lot of sense...you would think that at a small enough scale, a more real shape would emerge...(M-Theorists expect stringy-like worms I guess....)   So a point just becomes a heavier point without a more precise theory...

*  The Uncertainty Principle also holds for Energy/Time like it does for Position/Velocity....so to catch anything moving that fast implies some Time uncertainty making it hard to capture.

Love the "Serial Number/Bar Code" comment!!!!

Use a very fine pair of tweezers and squint really hard. 

Wonder what they smell like.

Ok, just kidding. But talk about a neat dream. "I want to see an electron."

Will it happen in the next 50 years?

wildwinter : Keep trying.