According to the model, electrons or protons could be viewed as bundles of " fibers " or " plasmoids " with total charge ± e. The electrostatic repulsion force between charge elements of the same sign was balanced by the magnetic attraction force between the parallel currents in the fibers of a bundle, per Ampère's law. These fibers twisted around the torus of the ring as they progressed around its radius, forming a Slinky -like helix. Circuit completion demanded that each helical plasmoid fiber twisted around the ring an integer number of times as it proceeded around the ring. This requirement was thought to account for " quantum " values of angular momentum and radiation. Chirality demanded the number of fibers to be odd, probably three, like a rope. The helicity of the twist, was thought to distinguish the electron from the proton.