Whirring around the nucleus of its atom, an electron is said to have certain properties. Sometimes it behaves like a particle. Sometimes it acts like a wave. Sometimes, it behaves like we do.
The gym has been slightly busier lately. When I get to the cardio room in the morning, I take note that the five or six people, on various machines, are evenly spread out. My natural inclination is to use a machine that best spaces me relative to the other gym goers. It would be uncomfortable, at least for me, to use a machine right next to another person when there are five or six down the row that are unused.
When electrons jump from atom to atom, they fill their orbital paths in a similar manner. Known as the Aufbau Principle, electrons fill lower, stable states before filling higher, unstable conditions.
Is there a significance to this? Probably not. It was just something I thought of while on the elliptical machine.
As I walked to the cool-down mat, I noticed the same phenomenon. I saw two people gathered on one end of the five-part tumble-mat cushion. On the other end, a gym member was finishing her stretching. The crowded mat seemed more comfortable when I occupied the fourth segment, rather than the middle one.
As I left the gym, I was excited about these observations. Walking to my car, I was eager to see if the fifty or so parked vehicles also followed the Aufbau Principle.
No, there is no Aufbau Principle when it comes to parking. The cars were clustered heavily near the gym entrance, somewhat chaotically, if not randomly. I guess that’s a good thing, what with it being so cold in the morning nowadays.
