Final answer:
The electric field that balances the weight of an electron is directed upwards and has a small magnitude, indicating that electrostatic forces are much more potent than gravity on an electron's scale.
Step-by-step explanation:
The direction of an electric field that will balance the weight of an electron must be upward, opposite to the gravitational force which acts downward. To find the magnitude of the electric field, we use the equation Fe = qE, where Fe is the electrostatic force, q is the charge of the electron, and E is the electric field. The weight of the electron, the gravitational force, is given by Fg = mg, where m is the mass of the electron and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Setting the electrostatic force equal to the gravitational force and solving for E gives us the magnitude of the electric field.
The small value of this electric field needed to balance the electron's weight suggests that the electrostatic force is much more powerful than the gravitational force on the scale of subatomic particles. This is because the mass of the electron is very small, and hence so is the gravitational force acting on it, while the electron's charge allows for a much stronger electrostatic interaction.