Easy question: why don't electrons spin into the nucleus?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the question of why electrons do not spiral into the nucleus of an atom, exploring concepts from quantum mechanics, classical physics, and the implications of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Participants examine the nature of electron behavior in atoms, particularly in relation to their energy states and wavefunctions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that electrons are described by standing wavefunctions that occupy nonradiating states, contrasting with classical models where electrons would radiate energy and spiral into the nucleus.
  • There is a discussion about how classical models suggest electrons should orbit the nucleus like planets, but accelerating charges would lose energy and spiral inward.
  • One participant asks for clarification on how radiation leads to spiraling into the nucleus versus occupying nonradiating states.
  • Some participants introduce the concept of orbitals as symmetric clouds rather than fixed orbits, mentioning the Pauli Exclusion Principle and its implications for electron occupancy in orbitals.
  • Another participant raises the question of how the attraction between protons and electrons allows for non-radiating states, prompting further exploration of quantum mechanics.
  • The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is mentioned as a limiting factor that prevents electrons from falling into the nucleus, with references to zero-point energy and analogies to fermi pressure in neutron stars.
  • There are discussions about the nature of electron trajectories, with some participants arguing that electrons do not have well-defined paths, complicating the classical view of acceleration.
  • One participant challenges the application of the uncertainty principle, questioning its role in preventing electrons from being attracted to protons.
  • Another participant emphasizes that standing waves can only exist at discretely defined energies, indicating that E=0 is not a valid energy state for electrons in atoms.
  • There is a mention of the probability function that describes the electron, highlighting its complex nature and the implications for understanding electron location and behavior.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with some agreeing on the role of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle, while others challenge or seek clarification on these concepts. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of these theories and the nature of electron behavior in atoms.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying interpretations of quantum mechanics, the complexity of wavefunctions, and the implications of classical versus quantum descriptions of electron behavior. Some assumptions about the nature of electron trajectories and energy states are not fully explored.

  • #31


Originally posted by NEOclassic
Let me explain why classic modeling accepts the like-charge two-electron quantum orbital as intrinsic and as permanent as “forever” unless a given orbital is removed (i.e., decoupled as with the breaking of intra-molecular bonding of atoms where the orbital is only temporary because of the absence of a strong central nuclear field) from the atomic kernel where it would rapidly fly apart becoming two independent free electrons. E.g., consider the single iron atom nested in the four nitrogen atoms centered in the square-planar hemoglobin molecule in your blood; the kernel of that atom – the Argon structure (i.e. excluding the valence electrons which are available for variation of chemical behavior of the iron atom); that particular atom was created somewhere in the heart of the Milky Way, some 6 billion years ago, and after it completes its mission in your blood it remains intrinsically alive forever in the future.
The upshot is that the QM like-charge orbital was the natural property of matter creation. PEP is really only Pauli’s recognition of QM’s intrinsic property. Calling the orbital a “standing wave” because it does not radiate is merely a patch the QED folk use to obfuscate the reality that the orbital is two electrons following each other at high speed that is locked-in permanently. It is true that the “wave nature”, although not radiative, is possibly determined on the basis of the frequency of rotation of the orbital loop. Note: the moving charges of the loop current do cause a magnetic force field normal to the plane of the loop that is exactly countered by the torque caused by the centrifugal force due to angular momentum of the two electron masses. Thanks for your audience. Only the messenger, Jim


What is a "Qm like-charge orbital"?
 
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  • #32


Originally posted by Eyesee
What is a "QM like-charge orbital"?

Hi Eyesee,

QM means Quantum Mechanics, which is that branch of physics that deals with the nature of those many electrons that surround an atomic nucleus. Because valence electrons are not paired up (until stable molecules happen that form quantum pairings that chemists call “bonds” that are actually extra-nuclear quantum-orbitals) they do not behave in the orbital manner of the non-valence “kernel-orbitals”. While a single electron charge could easily move in a loop, its intrinsic buddies, mass and spin, present a problem in stabilizing that loop (as with a play-ground teeter-totter); so nature demands a balancing mass be inserted diametrically opposite which completes the quantum orbital. Or does it? Didn’t Pauli postulate that something else was necessary to overcome the electrostatic repulsion of the two like-charges in the loop? To early classic physicists spin-flip was the obvious answer until someone observed that the balance of spin inertia, while important in a minor way, was much too feeble to overcome electrostatic repulsion. All that was therefore available was a different view of the novel electrodynamic notion that the intrinsically spinning charge of each electron rendered it a small dipolar “bar-magnet” which was extremely attractive to its neighbor when spin-flipped. The reason why I refer to the two negative electrons in the loop as a “like-charged orbital” is because of the revelation, discovered in the thirties, that in the electron/positron delayed annihilation process, the opposite-charges of the electrons satisfied, per se, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, thus freeing the magnetic spin orientations as a matter of arbitrary selection. [That’s why there are two differing positroniums, singlet and triplet.]

Incidentally, a survey of all the proton/deuteron/etc fragments discovered at the World’s atom smashers shows that all except photons, electrons and positrons decay in extremely short times to those three entities; important among the unstable particles is the only one smaller than the mu-meson which is called positronium.

Until this “unlike-charged orbital” is postulated as QM’s mass-enhanceable sub-nucleonic building block, the current Standard Model will likely continue to be fatally flawed. Thanks for your audience, Only The Messenger – Jim.

"Logic is easy when done Nature's way."
 
  • #33


Originally posted by NEOclassic
Hi Eyesee,

QM means Quantum Mechanics, which is that branch of physics that deals with the nature of those many electrons that surround an atomic nucleus. Because valence electrons are not paired up (until stable molecules happen that form quantum pairings that chemists call “bonds” that are actually extra-nuclear quantum-orbitals) they do not behave in the orbital manner of the non-valence “kernel-orbitals”. While a single electron charge could easily move in a loop, its intrinsic buddies, mass and spin, present a problem in stabilizing that loop (as with a play-ground teeter-totter); so nature demands a balancing mass be inserted diametrically opposite which completes the quantum orbital. Or does it? Didn’t Pauli postulate that something else was necessary to overcome the electrostatic repulsion of the two like-charges in the loop? To early classic physicists spin-flip was the obvious answer until someone observed that the balance of spin inertia, while important in a minor way, was much too feeble to overcome electrostatic repulsion. All that was therefore available was a different view of the novel electrodynamic notion that the intrinsically spinning charge of each electron rendered it a small dipolar “bar-magnet” which was extremely attractive to its neighbor when spin-flipped. The reason why I refer to the two negative electrons in the loop as a “like-charged orbital” is because of the revelation, discovered in the thirties, that in the electron/positron delayed annihilation process, the opposite-charges of the electrons satisfied, per se, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, thus freeing the magnetic spin orientations as a matter of arbitrary selection. [That’s why there are two differing positroniums, singlet and triplet.]

Incidentally, a survey of all the proton/deuteron/etc fragments discovered at the World’s atom smashers shows that all except photons, electrons and positrons decay in extremely short times to those three entities; important among the unstable particles is the only one smaller than the mu-meson which is called positronium.

Until this “unlike-charged orbital” is postulated as QM’s mass-enhanceable sub-nucleonic building block, the current Standard Model will likely continue to be fatally flawed. Thanks for your audience, Only The Messenger – Jim.

"Logic is easy when done Nature's way."


Hi,

very nice explanation. You are saying that it is the different spins of the electrons in addition to the attractive magnetic field generated by its spinning that stabilizes the electrons inside the atoms? That may well work for multiple electron atoms, but what about the hydrogen atom? Are hydrogen atoms stable in isolation or do their electrons fall into the nucleus? If they are stable then the different spins of the electrons wouldn't explain it, right?
 
  • #34
Tutorial continued

Originally posted by Eyesee
Hi,

very nice explanation. You are saying that it is the different spins of the electrons in addition to the attractive magnetic field generated by its spinning that stabilizes the electrons inside the atoms? That may well work for multiple electron atoms, but what about the hydrogen atom? Are hydrogen atoms stable in isolation or do their electrons fall into the nucleus? If they are stable then the different spins of the electrons wouldn't explain it, right?

Hi again I.C.,

What I meant was "that opposite spins of the electrons ARE magnetically attractive as contrasted with parallel spins which are magnetically repulsive."

About the hydrogen atom with its unpaired valence type electron let me direct you to Feynman Notes, Chap 19, Vol. III where indeed his thought-experiment places the single uncoupled electron as subject to the Heisenberg dumbbell shaped probabilities (I think he calls these amplitudes) and which are not visible in the ground state (the magnetic dipoles are coaxial with the electrostatic attraction between proton and electron being countered by the magnetic poles of the two being directed repulsively by like-magnetic poles facing each other) because there must be excitement of the electron in order for Planck incremental photo radiation frequencies to occur. Nature’s lab in the photosphere, chromosphere, corona of the Sun shows a few of the many Planck incremental excitement levels that are referred to as the “Balmer”, “Lyman”, and “Paschen” series.
Feynman’s thought experiment of the H2+ ion is not only quite nervous but is, similar to the H atom, not a quantum coupling, and whose “ground state” involves all three particles as being spin-wise coaxial with the central electron so oriented that like-magnetic poles prevail at each pole of the electron; thus limiting the electro- static tendency toward collapse. Thanks for your audience, Only the Messenger, Jim.

"Logic is easy when done Nature's way."
 

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