What speed do electrons travel and why dont they bump into each other?

Question

There are an awful lot of tiny atoms and each should fill up a finite volume of space. They are supposed to be travelling around the nucleus in a sort of perpetual motion.

Even with the electrostatic charges trying to separate them, shouldn't there be some collisions? What would happen if they do collide?

There are an awful lot of tiny electrons and each should fill up a finite volume of space. They are supposed to be travelling around the nucleus in a sort of perpetual motion.

Even with the electrostatic charges trying to separate them, shouldn't there be some collisions? What would happen if they do collide?

Answer 1

Electrons travel at the speed of light. Also the electron is not exactly a particle as you think. It is a cross betn a particle and electromagnetic wave.(heisenberg/schroedinger duality theorem). Therefore it is much more suitable to think of electrons as a cloud. This cloud represents the probability that an electron could be found at any point in space. Because of this duality, the collision betn electrons is not possible inside an atom. But this has been achieved in particle accelerators where they produce gamma rays in collisions.

Answer 2

WOW !! Lots of theories here. People !! DId you forget how you get electricity? That is the collision of electrons in the wire through which the current travels. Sorry to burst your bubble of fusion scale reactions.

Electrons collide all the time. Now what you need to understand is that these collisions are NOT like two cars colliding. They NEVER physically collide naturally. They come close to each other and then get repelled and move away.

In a stable atom / molecule the electrons have a unique path, hence the chance of collision is almost nil. Even if they collide, the foce is not strong enough to overcome the proton electron attraction.

Answer 3

II don't think that electrons travel at the speed of light because they have mass.In the particle accelerator at CERN, they speed up particles and smash them into each other to see what happens.
But I think it's true electrons repel each other. They cannot be in the same space because they have the same electical charge.
An electron and a positron annihilate each, give up their charge, and become photons. (This might just be theory)

I don't know if electrons can hit each other in nature, but when the structure of the atoms of a massive star breaks down, and gravity pulls everything in together, what happens to the electrons? I think this where electron degenerate matter comes into being. Here the electrons become a force to keep everything apart. Maybe when the electrons can't do that any more that's when you get a black hole.

Answer 4

Perpetual motion of the electrones origins from their electrical charge and the internal energy they are provided with. It is simmilar to the revolutions of the planets around the star. There are gravity, electrical and electro-magnetic forces involved, but the explanation is not simple and comprehensive.

Their speed is finite, but very high. Collisions are avoided owing to energy levels. A set of electrones with the same amount of internal energy assumes the exact position above the atom core.

Other type of collision, between electrones on the same energetic level, is avoided owing to the repulsion between electrical charges of the same kind. Thus the same distance between electrones is obtained at each energy level.

Answer 5

Although logically we would assume that like charges would never collide, let us take in consideration hydrogen fusion. Fusion of Hydrogen 1 with... Hydrogen 1 is the primary function of all stars. The forced collision between proton-proton releases a huge amount of energy. With the products being (if I remember correctly) deuterium + neutrino + positron.

I would come to believe that the collision between electrons would release an amazing amount of energy also. However if we take in consideration the famous E=MC^2, and apply it to electron-electron collision. We would see that the mass of the electron is much less significant then that of a proton-proton collision, so therefore much less energy would be released.

I believe the product, if I remember correctly, would hypothetically be two photons.

Answer 6

Electrons are suspected of Traveling at the speed of light, 300,000,000 m/s (or 300,000 km/s).

Electrons have a negative charge, all of them, and when two magnetic forces of the same charge come together, they repel (Try it with 2 magnets of the same charge)

Further into the atom, Protons and Neutrons have positive and neutral charges respectively, giving a neutral charge in a standard atom.

Answer 7

there are precice positions in wich electrones can move around atom, called orbitales. they are formed that way so that the atom would remain in a minimum of energy state. the electrons as paricles are extremly small and the space that they have inside an atom is huge, for them. and also, they move so fast that they resemble more to a wave then to particle, so, hence their dual nature they can't realy hit eachother.

Answer 8

The atom model you are referring to, with electrons traveling around the nucleus, like planets around a star, is an old one. They still teach it in school, because it would be to difficult to explain their latest models.

Answer 9

well theyre both charged the same way so they repel and how fast? well id say about a couple billion miles per hour? considering youd have to scaleit...

Answer 10

186,000 miles per hour. They bump into each other for the same reason as you would at that speed!