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LiveScience
LiveScience
Larissa G. Capella

Scientists watch a single electron move during a chemical reaction for first time ever

An illustration of X-rays scattering off valence electrons.

For the first time, scientists have used ultrafast X-ray flashes to take a direct image of a single electron as it moved during a chemical reaction.

In the new study, published Aug. 20 in the journal Physical Review Letters, the researchers accomplished this incredible feat by imaging how a valence electron — an electron in the outer shell of an atom — moved when an ammonia molecule broke apart.

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