In the article Electron's spin - Part 1, we talked about how scientists first thought that electrons might be like tiny spinning balls and that they intrinsic “up” or “down” property was a sort of angular momentum. But this idea didn’t last long because:
- electrons don’t spin like regular objects we can see.
- this idea couldn’t explain what scientists discovered in the Stern-Gerlach experiment.
In Book 2, Millie discovers the true nature of electron spin as revealed by the Stern-Gerlach experiment, which we discussed in detail in the article Discovery of electron spin. She realizes that electrons are the smallest magnets ever!
She also discovers that the two vectors representing the spin of electrons inside the pointy hats are intrinsic magnetic moments, which arise from their magnetic field.
If you’ve forgotten about magnets and magnetic fields, please revisit the article on Magnetism.
