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<blockquote data-quote="tomBitonti" data-source="post: 6674968" data-attributes="member: 13107">I thought an electron stayed &quot;in orbit&quot; because its location can't be fixed.&nbsp; That is, the electron wants to zip into the nucleus of the atom, but that fixes the location and the momentum too precisely to satisfy the uncertainty relationship.&nbsp; What ends up is an electron buzzing around the nucleus in a manner which minimizes its energy.&nbsp; The closer the electron gets, the less potential energy it has, but the greater kinetic energy it has, because, as the electron's position becomes more certain, the less certain the electron's momentum must become.&nbsp; A balance is reached which minimizes the sum of these energies.Feynman covers this in his lecture notes.&nbsp; See:2–4 The size of an atom<a href="http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_02.html#Ch2-S4" target="_blank">http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_02.html#Ch2-S4</a>The notes are wonderful to read, especially for learning about quantum mechanics.Thx!TomB</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tomBitonti, post: 6674968, member: 13107"] I thought an electron stayed "in orbit" because its location can't be fixed. That is, the electron wants to zip into the nucleus of the atom, but that fixes the location and the momentum too precisely to satisfy the uncertainty relationship. What ends up is an electron buzzing around the nucleus in a manner which minimizes its energy. The closer the electron gets, the less potential energy it has, but the greater kinetic energy it has, because, as the electron's position becomes more certain, the less certain the electron's momentum must become. A balance is reached which minimizes the sum of these energies. Feynman covers this in his lecture notes. See: 2–4 The size of an atom [url]http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_02.html#Ch2-S4[/url] The notes are wonderful to read, especially for learning about quantum mechanics. Thx! TomB [/QUOTE]

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