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[return to "Ask HN: What scientific phenomenon do you wish someone would explain better?"]
1. plurin+ne[view] [source] 2020-04-26 20:54:52
>>qqqqqu+(OP)
Spin aka intrinsic angular momentum
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2. OkayPh+Ks1[view] [source] 2020-04-27 11:46:57
>>plurin+ne
Basocally, we can think of momentum in two parts: the momentum of an object orbitting another, and the momentum of the object spinning on an axis.

At the subatomic level, we observe that electrons have some extra angular momentum, beyond what we'd expect from their "orbits". We call that spin, because it's intrinsic, like the spinning of a macroscale object.

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