Electric force in simple atom

[Dell]

a simple atom is comprised of one electron and one proton, with a distance of R=0.5*10^-10m between them

1) what is the electric force between them

F=K(qq)/r² = 28.8N
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2)how much smaller than the electric force is:
a) the gravitational force of the electron
b) the gravitational force of the proton

are the 2 gravitational forces not the same? is the force not equal to G(m_pm_e)/R² for both of them?

 

[Doc Al]

a simple atom is comprised of one electron and one proton, with a distance of R=0.5*10^-10m between them

1) what is the electric force between them

F=K(qq)/r² = 28.8N

Better double check your arithmetic. 28.8N is huge (for atomic particles).

2)how much smaller than the electric force is:
a) the gravitational force of the electron
b) the gravitational force of the proton

This is worded strangely. Perhaps they meant the gravitational force on the particles.

are the 2 gravitational forces not the same? is the force not equal to G(m_pm_e)/R² for both of them?

Right.

 

[nlightner]

I would like to clarify that the gravitational force between two particles is not the same as the electric force. The gravitational force is determined by the masses of the particles, while the electric force is determined by the charges of the particles. Therefore, the gravitational force between the electron and proton in a simple atom would be much smaller than the electric force between them. To calculate the gravitational force, we would use the equation F=G(m1m2)/r^2, where G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the masses of the particles, and r is the distance between them. Using this equation, we can see that the gravitational force between the electron and proton would be significantly smaller than the electric force calculated in the first question.