Hannah Fry

No.

Unless...

There is a way, there is a way to get them to spin, to physically spin.

The thing is, is that you have to remember that like electrons in particular, for example, it's like a teeny tiny little bar magnet, right?

And it has this magnetic field that exists around it and it can align

with other magnetic fields that you impose upon it.

So, for example, let's say that I've got an electric field and I have a really heavy magnet, right?

Really like meaty magnet.

And I put the electric field...

I get so scared because the exact words that you use in this situation, right, field, for example, you have to be so careful to get the exact one right because otherwise, I mean, I'm literally looking at the Department for Theoretical Physics of Cambridge University out of my window.

Bring it over.

I can feel the judgment, the war judgment of all of those guys.

So I'm going to be really careful.

And if I make mistakes, you can tell me in the comments.

Okay.

So, all right.

If you put an electron into a magnetic field, then that electron can align itself with...

that field it can either spin up or it can spin down essentially that direction is a physical genuine direction okay but it only has two states it doesn't it it doesn't like float around it doesn't rotate like a bar magnet does or like a compass would it's sort of it's two states only right it kind of switches between it can flip between them jump between them

And so this is one way that you can actually make an electron spin, because if you are careful and you slowly rotate slowly your magnetic field so that you have your electrons aligning with it, you can effectively rotate an electron.

Right.