What is the effect of gravity specifically Earth's Gravity on an electron around an atom (say Hydrogen).?

Question

Does it affect the orbital in any significant manner ?
More than an exact answer an analogy will also do...
If applicable kindly explain the effect of strong, weak or nuclear forces.

Answer 1

It is the elctromagnetic force that binds an electron to its atom. That force is so strong compared to the gravitational force the earth exerts on the electron that gravity can be fully discounted. It is easy to calculate the gravitational pull of the earth on an electron in a hydrogen atom at the surface of the earth.

F = G x M x m / r^2

G = 6.67 x 10^-11
M (earth) = 6 x 10^24 kg
m (electron) = 9 x 10^-31 kg
r = 6.4 x 10^6 m

Put it altogether and F = 9 x 10^-30 newtons

HTH

Charles

Answer 2

The rules of the macrocosm are different from those of
microcosm:

The world of subatomic particles is rather different to
the large scale one which we are used to. Some of the
ideas may sound ridiculous at first.

http://teachers.web.cern.ch/teachers/archiv/HST2000/teaching/resource/lessons/basic/notelist.htm

Does gravity exists at micro level?
Quantum physics predicts the existence of an underlying
sea of zero-point energy at every point in the
universe, referred to as the electromagnetic quantum
vacuum since it is the lowest state of otherwise empty
space. This energy is so enormous that most physicists
believe that even though zero-point energy seems to be
an inescapable consequence of elementary quantum
theory, it cannot be physically real, and so is
subtracted away in calculations. From this perspective,
the ordinary world of matter and energy is like a foam
atop the quantum vacuum sea.There is an emerging new
physics for the twenty first century which offers
profound revisions of the most basic concepts in
science, concerning the nature of space, the quantum
vacuum, the zero point fields, the nature of mass, and
even, whether or not 'gravity' exists.

http://www.zeropoint.ca/microcosm-zpfield.html

Mysteries of the microcosm made clear
http://physicsweb.org/articles/review/16/10/2

Among these mysteries are:
How can particles appear to be infinitesimal points,
yet influence other matter to infinity?
What is mass-energy, and why it is conserved?
How do point-concentrations of mass-energy devolve into
photons & particles?

http://www.infiniteparticlephysics.com/

Why world lines of real particles are only timelike and
null?
What is a particle? A pointlike object, a spherical
membrane, or a string?
What is the vehicle of quantum properties? Quantum
axiomatics? Dynamics? Anything else?
Are quantum laws primary, as the laws describing the
space-time properties, or they are secondary and
derivative with respect to primary physical laws, as
the second law of thermodynamics?

http://rsfq1.physics.sunysb.edu/~rylov/yrylov.htm

In microcosm both matter and energy are quantised they
can not take any value. A special feature in microcosm
is that the fundamental processes have uncertainties
which Nature itself has introduced. They are always
present and affect all scientific estimates and
measurements.

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/physics/quantised_world/index.html

It is known that the electrons in the atoms can occupy
various energy levels. It appears from this that their
binding energies with the nuclei should be changed, and
they should be in the spectra of the atoms and the
molecules. But it is mystery how many energy levels the
atomic electron has and how its binding energy with the
nucleus is changed. As the chemists cannot calculate
the binding energies between the valance electrons,
they introduce various amusing or mysterious notions
like electron affinity.

http://new-physics.com/BeginningOfPhysics

Answer 3

No, gravity is by far the weakest of the fundamental forces. The only reason gravity effects are ever visible is because, uniquely, it works over large ranges and it's always attractive so the effect adds up. But it has no effect whatsoever on an electron orbital, which is moulded by electromagnetism.

Answer 4

I'm no expert, but I expect that gravitational affects are the same for subatomic particles as they are for macroscopic objects. However, since electrons have very little mass, the affect is not significant.

The strong nuclear force only applies to particles in the nucleus. I don't know how the weak force would play with regard to this.