How Do Field Lines Represent a Hydrogen Atom in a Simplified Model?

[physicsnewb7]

Homework Statement

draw the field lines of a simple hydrogen atom model. A case is given where a proton is surrounded by an electron cloud. Without getting into quantum mechanics how would represent the field lines of this mini sphere inside and out.

Homework Equations

gauss's law

The Attempt at a Solution

since the 2 charges are the same I think there would be no field lines going out and the field lines would just be going from the proton to the electron correct?

 

[ideasrule]

Yeah, that's correct. Remember that the electron cloud exerts no force on anything inside of it, so the electric field inside the cloud is the same as if the cloud didn't exist.

 

[kerimek]

I would like to clarify that the term "Gaussian electron cloud" is not a commonly used term in the scientific community. However, based on your description, I believe you are referring to the electron cloud model of an atom, where electrons are distributed around the nucleus in a probabilistic manner.

To answer your question, the field lines of a simple hydrogen atom model would indeed be directed from the proton to the electron, as you have correctly stated. This is in accordance with Gauss's law, which states that the electric flux through a closed surface is proportional to the enclosed charge. Since the charge of the proton is positive and the charge of the electron is negative, the electric flux would be directed from the positive charge to the negative charge.

In terms of representing the field lines of the mini sphere inside and out, we can use the concept of equipotential surfaces. These are imaginary surfaces that are perpendicular to the field lines and have the same potential at every point. For a hydrogen atom, the equipotential surfaces would be concentric spheres around the nucleus, with the potential decreasing as we move further away from the nucleus. This would represent the electron cloud surrounding the proton.

However, it is important to note that this model is a simplified representation of the true nature of an atom, and does not take into account the complex quantum mechanical behavior of electrons. To accurately represent the field lines of an atom, we would need to use quantum mechanics, which is beyond the scope of this discussion.