question: i heard that according to maxwell's equations(i think),electrons that are orbiting the nucleus should lose energy and eventually fall into the nucleus. So atoms cannot exist.so how is this problem overcome? If this conclusion is according to maxwell's equation,can you tell me how it predicts the above statement i said?
Using Schrodinger's equation, electrons are modelled as orbitals or probability "clouds", avoiding the Maxwellian problem.
please eram,can you tell me in detail. You know my age and i am new to these.so can you try to simplify what you said here?
i don't know much about schrodinger equation... Well,in your response you talked about probabilities.so i think schrodinger equation must have given probabilities of finding a electron at that point. So when we find out the probabilities,it must have given a probability cloud or orbitals.right?
something like that.. [video=youtube;8njOejPIj4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=8njOejPIj4w[/video]
so i think by giving the probability cloud,we can say that electrons are only found at that cloud and no where else.is that the way maxwellian problem is solved?
i cannot see your video quote in mobile.... Well,if this is only what schrodinger's equation says,still i am not satisfied because it dosen't actually say why electrons don't lose energy.it just says that electrons are only present there.nothing else and it doesn't say why that probability exist.
You better show me some bloody respect too. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Before you post, think of a shithole on the pavement in front of you. After you post, it's like falling into that pit of shit. So think before you post. Pause for a moment and sidestep that shithole.
they are similar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbital#Qualitative_understanding_of_shapes The video explains it pretty well, it's from Salman Amin Khan.
Ash64449, the whole thing about quantum mechanics is that it deals with the observations classic physics can't explain about the world of atomic-scale phenomena. The fact that Maxwell's equation don't work for an electron supposedly "orbiting" an atomic nucleus meant there was something wrong with that model of the atom. Through this and other evidence, it was recognised that a better model requires the use of the famous concept of "wave-particle duality" for these particles, the "wave" aspect corresponding to a probability distribution that tells you the probability of finding the "particle" at a particular point. So, according to this model, Maxwell's equation don't work for the electrons in an atom for the simple reason they are NOT particles in orbit about the nucleus. They are wave-particle quantum mechanical entities, whose wavefunction can take up a number of stable configurations analogous to standing waves. (In fact, these standing waves look very similar to the various resonant modes of vibration you can set up in a rubber ball - which I think is a nice way to visualise them.) The fact that ONLY these various resonant, standing wave patterns are stable also explains why electrons in an atom can only have certain defined (what we call "quantised") energy levels: a "classical" atom with electrons in orbit would allow the electron to have any orbit it liked, with any energy it liked. This is contrary to what we observe, for example in the emission and absorption of light by atoms which produces the lines in its spectrum, only at certain frequencies.
well,it seems to me like your 1st paragraph says that electrons are particles. In addition to it,it has wave like nature. so it is indeed particles but it has wave nature. Why Maxwell's equations don't work for electrons orbiting nucleus is that Maxwell's equations doesn't consider particles behaving like waves. is that what you meant? So by not working Maxwell's equations with electrons orbiting the nucleus,the problem of collapsing atom is solved??
Exchemist and eram, What is the connection between uncertainty principle and Schrodinger Wave Equation? I would like to understand what conclusion can we draw from the uncertainty principle.
