Conservation of energy question

[Mr.Entropy]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.  The only other question I have is about electrons.  You asked.."what would slow them down?"  Well, given that an object in motion stays in motion until acted upon by an outside force..etc. (Newton) does this mean that at the atomic level there is no friction due to resistance of the fluid they are moving through?  I guess air molecules are too large but, they are moving through something right?  No friction or resistance?  Does this mean a vacuum exists at the atomic and subatomic levels?  Or, does this mean that there are no other particles small enough for them to collide with?  Nothing else there?

There is no fluid between molecules.  All fluids are _made_ of particles like molecules.  Between molecules, or between electrons and the nucleus, there is just empty space.

There is nothing that looks like friction on the molecular scale.  What we call "friction" at the macroscopic scale is the collision of molecules.

When you rub your arm on your armrest, molecules that are chemically bonded to your arm collide with molecules that are chemically bonded to your chair.  The force required to tear them off or push them out of the way is what we feel as friction.  Similarly, the force that restists motion through air is average force from collisions with all the air molecules pushed out of the way.

Cheers,

Mr. Entropy