What is the problem with a solar system model of the atom?

Question

What is the problem with a solar system model of the atom?

Answer 1

The main thing is that the electron isn;t well behaved like a planet. It can appear anywhere in 3 dimensions in a region around the nucleus. (more like a bee around a hive then a planet around the sun) Plus, the electron is actually fluttering in and out of existance i that region in a very non planet (non-bee) like manner. It can hop out of existance in one place and appear in another. It can behave like a particle or like a wave. Weird stuff.

Answer 2

In the atom, you may know the position of an electron or its' momentum, not both at the same time (Heisenberg uncertainty principle ).
And the position of an electron is probabilistic.
In the solar system all planets can actually be seen, and their position and momentum measured at any time, simultaneously.

Answer 3

One problem is that the electron will slow down as it circles the proton (conservation of angular momentum), so finally the electron and the proton will collide and the whole thing will vanish. Niels Bohr, who thought up this idea, postulated that electrons are only allowed to occupy certain "orbits." These are paths that are a certain distance each from the proton. If that is so, then the electron is "not allowed" to fall into the proton. This was his solution to "the problem."

Answer 4

The main problem is that electrons have an electrical charge and an orbiting body is constantly accelerating (remember that acceleration includes change in direction, not just change in speed). Any accelerating charged particle will radiate energy and in so doing slow down. So an orbiting electron would quickly spiral into the nucleus. By quickly I mean in a fraction of a second.

Answer 5

The dynamics of an atom are described best using quantum theory. That is because motions and changes of position occur in discrete steps.The solar system can be described by Newtonian physics, i.e., motions and changes of positions are smooth and continuous.

Answer 6

Electrons can best be represented as shells, not circles, around the nucleus of the atom. And several electrons can share a shell, whereas planets can't share orbits.

Answer 7

more then one electron circles the solar system model so it will cancle out more protons causing the atom to atomicly change to a different element

Answer 8

The solar system is represented as flat or disc like.

Answer 9

Electrons don't move in circular orbits (I know planets orbit in elipses, but the explanation works). Electrons move in a wave that curves around the nucleus.
Also, electrons pair up in their shells. Planets don't pair up with other planets. Also, most shells (all, except for the s shell) have more than 2 electrons. Planets have discrete orbits with no other planets in the same orbit.

Answer 10

You cannot tell exactly where an electron is at a given moment or where it is going. You can calculate the probability that an electron will be found in a given volume of space, but that isn't the same as knowing where that electron is.