-----Original Message----- From: Terry Blanton > How does one envision a 1/2 spin particle which must go through 720 degrees of rotation to return to its starting position?
The fizzix perfess'nuls say that this should not even be attempted, as it will possibly drive one to insanity. That does not stop the average vortician, since he or she is already well advanced beyond that status. Anyway - the way I envision this - as a 3D image (which could be animated if desired) is actually fairly straightforward - beginning with a "figure 8" pathway - which is representative of an average-path in what is really becomes a "smear"… but we can look at averages, for now. The center point where the lines cross will be designated as N for nucleus. This is not unlike a p orbital at this stage, but this is only the start of a merger of S&P, so to speak. 8 If the electron, although a point - has its own virtual axis with its own point polarity (and no one can show that it does not) then if the orbital starts at N it must traverse through 720 degrees to return to N with the same starting polarity, assuming it follows an average path. Never mind that the presence of the "real nucleus" is problematic for achieving the 720 degrees. We will deal with that later. Next, imagine rotating that same figure 8 which is now 2D, around an axis which goes through N to create a 3D shape. What you end up with is a special kind of spheroid called a horn torus, which is a torus with no hole – and it that looks roughly spherical. But the horn torus still has the problem of intersecting the nucleus. Therefore - what we really want to imagine is what is called a spindle torus, which now has two deflection points over and under the polarity of the real nucleus. The electron path would not need to intersect the nucleus of a spindle torus. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SpindleTorus.html This spindle torus is even more spherical, and an average electron path can take either Y at the deflection points. Thus, we can accommodate both a virtual p and s orbital with this same general conception, and we can provide an electron smear by assuming that we are only talking about average pathways and we can provide 720 degrees of rotation. OK – not a perfect visualization, but it works for me … your experience may vary. Importantly - it gets one away from Mills' brain-dead model of an orbitsphere as being the a useful alternative. LOL.
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