High School What Fills the Space Between the Nucleus and Electron Shells in an Atom?

[Sanborn Chase]

TL;DR

The Space Between the Nucleus and Electron Shells?

Summary: The Space Between the Nucleus and Electron Shells?

What composes the space between an atom's nucleus and its electron shells?

 

[mfb]

There is no space in between. The electron shells are spread over the whole size of the atom - including the volume of the nucleus.

 

[Sanborn Chase]

So the popular model of a tiny nucleus and way out there is the first electron shell is totally inaccurate? Why would such a fabrication still be taught? I remember the analogy as this: if the nucleus was the size of a basketball the electrons would be whizzing around the top rows of a major football stadium. It's all garbage?

 

[jim mcnamara]

The Bohr Model of the atom from 1913 is the source. It is wrong, but viewed handy for teaching very elementary science. I learned it in high school, long ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_model

 

[mfb]

if the nucleus was the size of a basketball the electrons would be whizzing around the top rows of a major football stadium

They are in the whole stadium in that analogy.