Quote:
Originally Posted by north
an interesting note here perhaps irrelevant to this thread but here goes
" It is currently necessary to use quantum mechanics to understand the behavior of systems at atomic length scales and smaller. For example, if Newtonian mechanics governed the workings of an atom, electrons would rapidly travel towards and collide with the nucleus. However, in the natural world the electrons normally remain in an unknown orbital path around the nucleus, defying classical electromagnetism."
yes normally
but when I took a course on " non-destrutive testing " an instructor told me that they had a small particle accelarator ( many years ago ) and that once in a while an electron would for some unknown reason just dive down to the nucleous. ( Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton Ontario Canada ) .
is it possible that the electromagnetic lines sometimes create a gap , however small , that allows the pull of the proton to suck in the electron ?
just asking
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North. That's called K-capture. The electron energy levels pictured in quantum mechanical interpretations start with K near the nucleus...and L,M,N,O,P,Q...near ionization. The "orbiting" model of the electron circling the nucleus is less useful than the wave mechanical interpretation, and the electron can wave it's way around many levels. As far as K-capture is concerned, it's generally energetically not favored for a proton to turn into a neutron, as it's more massive, and the particle physics of it is a little tricky. Suffice to say that it has been observed as one of the 13 modes of radioactive decay. There are rarer...neutrinoless double beta decay. pete
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_capture
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_...ay_experiments
see: perhaps 14...
http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/en/pres/compre...ioactDecay.htm