Continuous Charge Distribution?

[wajed]

http://www.vias.org/physics/bk4_06_07.html

This is a quote from the mentioned website,

" For example, a charged metal ball will have charge spread nearly uniformly all over its surface, and in for most purposes it will make sense to ignore the fact that this uniformity is broken at the atomic level"

May I know how is that uniformity broken at the atomic level?
Also, may I know,exactly, when/how does it make sense to ignore that fact for most cases?

 

[swraman]

teh charge distribution is caused by the net charge, either positive or negative, comprised of either protons or electrons.

The reason the net charge is not uniform at the atomic level is because the net charge is made up of a bunch of smaller charges (either protons or electrons) bunched up close together. If you viewed the surface at the atomic level, it would look like a bunch of small pieces really close together, eg:

.........

and not like:

___________________________

if it were the latter, then uniformity would not be broken at the atomic level, however we know that the latter is not possible as everything is comprised of atoms.

Honestly it seems stupid that the site even mentioned that, unless it goes into atomic analysis of the charged structure...ive never even seen that mentioned anywhere, as teh spacing between atomic charges is negligible for almost all purposes.

 

[oswaler]

I can provide some insight into this topic. The concept of continuous charge distribution is a simplification that is often used in physics to make calculations easier. In reality, at the atomic level, charge is not spread uniformly over the surface of a charged metal ball. This is because atoms are made up of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons, which are not evenly distributed on the surface of the object.

However, for most practical purposes, the non-uniformity of charge distribution at the atomic level can be ignored. This is because the overall charge distribution on the surface of the object is still approximately uniform, and the individual charges cancel each other out. In other words, the net charge of the object remains the same, regardless of the non-uniform distribution at the atomic level.

In certain situations where high precision is required, such as in advanced electrical or electromagnetic calculations, the non-uniformity of charge distribution at the atomic level may need to be taken into account. But for most everyday situations, the simplification of continuous charge distribution is sufficient and makes calculations much easier.