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I'm an a-level student. While studying quantum physics I came across this statement:"According to electromagnetic theory an accelerating charge emits energy". The bottom-line was that an electron (which is an accelerating charge in an atom) should, according to this, emit electromagnetic radiation, but it does not.

Can someone please explain the electromagmetic theory and why the electron does not emit energy? Please keep in mind I'm only an a-level student.

David Hammen
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Sara
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    What is "a-level"? – M.Herzkamp Aug 06 '14 at 10:42
  • Well, the charge of the electron doesn't actually move around the nucleus. The confusion stems from the older idea that electrons orbit around the nucleus (which brought a ton of misleading names like "orbitals" - pretty much the same like the fact that electron's angualar momentum and spin has nothing to do with rotation). I'll leave the full answer to someone who can actually explain that better, though :D – Luaan Aug 06 '14 at 10:45
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    I've linked a duplicate question. To summarise: the electrons don't radiate because they aren't accelerating. Neither the charge density nor the current density in an atom are changing with time. – John Rennie Aug 06 '14 at 10:50
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    Have a look at my answer here : http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/20003/ . You are actually rediscovering the basic question that made the Born model necessary and is at the kernel of quantum mechanics., i.e the different behavior of charges at the quantum level. – anna v Aug 06 '14 at 11:53

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