Kevin Aylward said:
No. It is receiving photons that interact with the electrons of atoms.
ROTFL...OK, Kevin, I gotta admit, that's a good one.
Technically correct, of course, but I'm afraid it may be more
confusing than helpful to the original poster.
Let's tackle this from a more classical perspective, and forget
the quantum mechanics for a bit. (Which is best, since I can't
do quantum mechanics since having misplaced my quantum
wrench last week...)
Radio transmitters do not emit electrons, and radio receivers
do not receive electrons. What actually passes between the
two are "electromagnetic waves" (which is really the same thing
as light, and hence "photons" as Kevin said, but in the case of
any practical radio equipment we're talking about MUCH lower
frequencies than in the case of visible light).
To understand this, realize that electrically charged particles -
such as electrons - produce "
electric fields" (which you can
see by bringing charged objects together - the fields between
them cause attraction or repulsion, depending on whether the
charges are of opposite or same sign, respectively). MOVING
charges, such as electrons traveling through a conductor, also
produce MAGNETIC fields, which you can demonstrate via
a simple electromagnet.
In the case of radio, the transmitter causes charge to move in
the transmitting antenna - which is, fundamentally, a structure
which is designed in such a way as to produce the electric and
magnetic fields coming from these moving charges in the
proper relationship so as to produce an "electromagnetic wave"
- which consists of both electric and magnetic fields in a
certain relationship, and which will sustain itself such that it
can travel and maintain this relationship over long distances.
When these electromagnetic waves strike a conductor - such a
the receiving antenna - they in turn cause the charges within that
antenna (the electrons) to move in a way identical to those at
the transmitter (although at greatly reduced strength, as very, very
little of the energy produced by the transmitter will ever be
captured by the receiver. So the receiving antenna can be
considered a structure which converts the electromagnetic waves
back into moving charge (or, in simpler terms, current and voltage).
(And oddly enough - or, when you think about it, not so oddly
after all - the same structure that works best as a transmitting antenna
also works as a receiving antenna. So the short form answer
again is that there is no transport of electrons themselves
between transmitter and receiver, but moving electrons wind up
both being responsible for the transmitted signal, and produced
at the receiver.
Bob M.