What do you mean by spin of the electron ?
During school days all of us have learned that there is a quantum number associated to spin of the electron (spin quantum number s) which can take only two values +1/2 or -1/2, but what does this number tell us about the electron, ever wondered what is the significance of this spin quantum number in physics (or chemistry) is it related to the spinning of the Earth around it's own axis, lets go into the historical development of the concept of spin and try to understand what exactly spin means In Mechanics we define spin as the rotation of a body along its own axis is that significance same for the small particles like electron? before going into much details lets understand a experiment which gave rise to this concept The Stren-Gerlach Experiment The Stern-Gerlach Experiment : Stern-Gerlach Experiment experiment was performed by Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach in Frankfurt, Germany in 1922 this is the era when the quantum mechanics was introduced to the wor...