kshah93 said:does this have anything to do with the electric force being the centripetal force?
94JZA80 said:no, it doesn't. that is, you cannot apply the classical mechanics of gravitating bodies to an electron and the nucleus it "orbits"...
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..but classical mechanics can be apllied to earth-monn system, right. Then why doesn't moon collapse on the Earth despite the fact that it is constantly pull by eart diue to its magnetic pull.
ank160 said:94JZA80 said:no, it doesn't. that is, you cannot apply the classical mechanics of gravitating bodies to an electron and the nucleus it "orbits"...
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..but classical mechanics can be apllied to earth-monn system, right. Then why doesn't moon collapse on the Earth despite the fact that it is constantly pull by eart diue to its magnetic pull.
It's vectors.
The moon is actually moving away from the Earth extremely slowly.
An orbit is actually falling toward and away from an object at the same rate. If you are moving away a tiny bit faster then falling toward, you will one day escape, if you move toward a tiny bit faster then away, you will eventually connect.
BTW it has nothing to do with magnetic pull when it comes to the earth-moon orbit, its gravity.
If for example the Earth was positive, and the moon negative in any meaningful way, the two object would collide faster then you can imagine due to electro-magnetism's incredibly stronger nature compared to gravity.
As I understand it, the reason the electron and proton don't combine is quantum related in this way, first the electron is not really in orbit around the proton of an hydrogen atom, or any other atom like we envision the moon around the earth. The electron, or electrons are in a shell of probalistic distribution around the nucleus. Since the uncertainty principle dictates that we can not know both the location and speed of a particle, this is why the electron can never be verifiably positioned around the nucleus.
So, the whole "lose energy and fall upon the proton" isn't as straightforward as that, secondly, the mass of the proton and the electron are less then the neutron. This has for consequence that you would need to supply energy to make both of them collapse together. The electromagnetic force isn't sufficient for that to happen. So an electron that is in an orbital cloud above a nucleus, can not just lose energy and merge with the proton.
The best known method of combining proton and electron is the massive energy of a super-nova that collapses the iron core of a super giant star into a super dense neutron star. When the star goes super-nova, the energy liberated is stupenduous, thus enabling the combination of proton and electron, thus forming a neutron star.
I hope I managed to answer, within my limited ability, your question.
According to classical physics, an electron in orbit around a proton would experience a centripetal force that would cause it to accelerate towards the proton. However, in quantum mechanics, the electron is described as a wavefunction that exists in a probabilistic cloud around the nucleus. This means that the electron does not have a definite position or trajectory, but rather exists in a range of possible positions. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that the electron is in a specific orbit around the proton and does not experience a centripetal force.
The electron's charge does play a role in preventing it from accelerating towards the proton. The electron has a negative charge, while the proton has a positive charge. According to Coulomb's law, like charges repel each other. Therefore, the electron's negative charge repels the proton's positive charge, keeping the electron from getting pulled towards the nucleus.
The uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to know both the position and velocity of a particle at the same time. This means that the electron does not have a definite position or trajectory in its orbit around the proton. Its position and velocity are constantly changing due to the probabilistic nature of its wavefunction. Therefore, the electron is not considered to be in a stable orbit like a planet around a star, but rather in a constantly fluctuating state around the proton.
No, an electron cannot collide with a proton in an atom. This is because an atom is mostly empty space, and the electron exists in a cloud around the nucleus. The probability of the electron being in the same position as the proton is extremely low. Additionally, the electron's wavefunction would collapse upon collision with the proton, causing the atom to lose its stability.
The concept of energy levels explains the stability of the electron's orbit around the proton by showing that the electron can only exist in certain discrete energy states. These energy levels correspond to specific distances from the nucleus, and the electron cannot exist in between these levels. This means that the electron is "locked" in its orbit and cannot spiral towards the nucleus. Additionally, the energy levels are associated with the electron's orbital angular momentum, which also plays a role in its stability.