Is Coulomb's law correct?

Question

Why don't electrons and protons collide?

Hydrogen atoms are often ionized. After ionization, it is divided into electrons and protons, which can merge into hydrogen atoms at any time.

Why don't electrons crash on protons?

According to Coulomb's law, when they are getting closer, they attract more and more. One of the most possible choices is to crash.

This is not a duplicated question. Because instead of talking about the structure of atoms (why electrons don't crash nuclei), we're talking about why they don't merge together because of the Coulomb attraction when electrons are close to protons.

The earth in the solar system will not leave the sun, it has been circling, gravity as a centripetal force. Atoms disintegrate and recombine at any time. They are not the same. If the solar system disintegrates and reassembles, the earth will hit the sun. Numerous craters on the moon are examples — Cang Ye, Jul 10 '19 at 23:57
Possible duplicate of Why don't electrons crash into the nuclei they "orbit"? — , Jul 11 '19 at 00:05
Other possible duplicates include Why do electrons occupy the space around nuclei, and not collide with them? , Why doesn't an electron ever hit (and stick on) a proton? , What keeps electrons in an atom from flying away or falling into the nucleus? , Protons and Electrons Occupying the Same Space , and many, many more. — David Hammen, Jul 11 '19 at 00:18
I browsed some explanations. Quantum mechanics is used to explain why electrons in atoms do not crash. In fact, the explanation of quantum mechanics is not complete and convincing.
The precondition of solving the Schrodinger equation for hydrogen atom is the potential energy V(r)=-k/r. What energy does the electron use to balance this potential energy? From this point of view, the electron cloud model is essentially the same as the Bohr model, it must also balance the Coulomb potential V(r) — Cang Ye, Jul 11 '19 at 00:29

Leiba Goldstein · Answer 1 · 2019-07-11T01:09:12.097

-2

If we discard the radiation problem(accelerated electron have to radiate and lose his energy), so electron does not crash on proton by the same reason the Earth does not crash on the Sun. And for the Earth, it does not crash on the Sun because it has an angular momentum and it always "slips past" the Sun.

Remark: Yes, of course classical physics can not explain stability of the atom, but the reason is not/(not so much) in Coulomb’s law but in the classical mechanics itself. I meant, that if the problem was only in Coulomb’s law then the same reasonings we could apply to the stability of the Solar system.

edited Jul 11 '19 at 01:09

answered Jul 10 '19 at 23:27

Leiba Goldstein

302

The earth in the solar system will not leave the sun, it has been circling, gravity as a centripetal force.
Atoms disintegrate and recombine at any time. They are not the same.

If the solar system disintegrates and reassembles, the earth will hit the sun. Numerous craters on the moon are examples.
– Cang Ye Jul 10 '19 at 23:56
This answer is rather incorrect. If protons and electrons were little charged balls that obeyed classical electromagnetism, the orbiting electron would continually emit electromagnetic radiation due to acceleration, thus losing energy and angular momentum. The electron would eventually collide. This doesn't happen. The Bohr model, which says electrons don't do that but instead can only make quantum leaps also doesn't work. The right answer lies in the answers to the linked questions. – David Hammen Jul 11 '19 at 00:25
Solar system is not so disintegrated because it is rather closed(in energetic meaning) and planets has not enough energy to leave it. But atoms often interacts with each other and outer systems, and sometimes as a result of the interaction electron can get enough energy for ionization – Leiba Goldstein Jul 11 '19 at 01:04
Electrons leave the proton. When it returns, what makes sure it doesn't hit the proton? According to Coulomb's law, it is 99.9% likely to collide. – Cang Ye Jul 11 '19 at 02:12

Is Coulomb's law correct?

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