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electron is very small massive particle;
atoms,nucleii,radiation

2007-03-08 23:26:05 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Physics

3 answers

The electron actually does orbit the nucleus. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle places limits on what you can measure of its momentum and position, so its orbit is described as a 'cloud' of probability density, but it is an orbit.

The length of its orbit must be an integral multiple of the wavelength of its wavefunction. Thus, its orbit can't decay continuously like that of a planetary satellite. If it decays to a lower energy level (reduces the length of its orbit by a wavelength), it also emits a photon with the energy of the difference between the two orbit energies.

It's not hard to coax electrons out of orbit. To cause countless trillions of events like that, turn on a light.

To answer what would happen if you collided an electron with a proton, I would need to repeat the kind of exercise that caused me to finally change my major from physics to electrical engineering.

2007-03-09 14:20:27 · answer #1 · answered by Frank N 7 · 0 0

Just as the revolution of the earth around the sun cannot stop, revolving of an electron about its nucleus can also not stop.

2007-03-09 07:33:15 · answer #2 · answered by cyla 2 · 0 1

It doesn't actually 'revolve' in the usual sense. Actually it's a wave function (or a 'probability cloud' that envelopes the nucleus.

HTH ☺

Doug

2007-03-09 07:34:33 · answer #3 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 0 1

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