Category: questions

What is an elementary particle?

Particles work more or less like matryoshka dolls, the wooden dolls that can be opened and contain smaller and smaller dolls inside. The smallest one is a whole piece, not openable like an elementary particle, also called a fundamental particle. In Book 8, Millie tries to break an electron,...…

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How can Millie get so small?

Millie’s books are full of magical adventures! When magic is involved, the most unexpected and unexplainable things can happen. Have you ever heard of Alice in Wonderland? She shrinks when she drinks a magical potion or takes a bite of an enchanted mushroom. Or how about Puss in Boots? He ca...…

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Why do Millie meet electrons first?

Electrons were discovered before other elementary particles. Joseph John Thomson demonstrated their existence in 1897, and for this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906. To learn more, read the story of the discovery of the electron.

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Is Millie a real pussycat?

Click here to see some photos.

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Do electrons spin?

Electron spin makes us picture electrons as if they "spin" like a tiny toy top spinning on a table. But here’s the thing: electrons don’t spin like that at all! In the article Electron's spin - Part 1, we discovered that scientists once thought electrons might be spinning, so they gave this spe...…

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Do electrons always have the spinny top?

In the article Electron's Spin - Part 1, we discovered that the electrons’ pointy "hats" aren’t really hats at all, but rather a built-in feature of electrons known as spin. It's like your nose — you can’t take it off because it’s part of your face. Millie discovered it in Book 1. Do you rem...…

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Do electrons always have the spinny top?

What are Bosonville and Fermioncity?

The article on elementary particles explains that there are two types of particles: bosons and fermions. This explains why Millie’s adventures begin at the border between the territory of the bosons, Bosonville, and that of the fermions, Fermioncity. In Millie’s adventures, fermions live in Fe...…

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What do "psi" and "collapse" mean?

Just as "Millie, micro, nano, and pico" are Millie’s magic words to shrink smaller and smaller, "Psi" and "Collapse" are the electron’s special words for switching between its wave and particle forms. If you’ve read the article Millie, micro, nano, and pico, you already know these words...…

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