Monday 17 October 2011

Does Gravity Control Orbit of the Electrons Around the Nucleus

From the study of Physical Chemistry (which includes Quantum Mechanics) we know that the structure of matter and the periodic table that results is a consequence of the only the electromagnetic force and nothing else, unless gravity is very strong-so strong that it dominates other forces. Such conditions do not exist on Earth.
Of course gravity pulls atoms down to Earth, but it does not affect the electronic structure...However the question does not ask about the pull of gravity on particles, but rather about the orbits of electrons around an atom, and if gravity plays a role.
Let us consider one H atom. The mass of a proton is 1.67262158 × 10-27 kilograms and the electron rest mass is 1800 times lighter 9.10938188 × 10-31 kilograms. The Coulomb attractive force between these two charged particles is many orders of magnitude larger than gravity between them.
More specifically we can compare the gravitational attraction between an electron and a proton, to that of their electrostatic attraction. Using Newton's Law and Coulomb's law and plugging in the fundamental electron charge, and for gravity, the above masses, and known constants, shows that the Coulomb force is a whopping 1040 times stronger than gravity in the Hydrogen atom.
That is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0... (40 zeros) times stronger!!!
Electronic Structure of Matter
Understanding of Physical Chemistry also explains that electronic structure of matter is governed solely by Coulomb's law: the attraction and repulsion between charged particles: But read on.
We only know of four forces: gravity (range: infinite), electromagnetic (range infinite), weak nuclear force (leads to beta decay) (range only within a nucleus); the strong nuclear force (range only within a nucleus). That's it folks.
The nuclear forces are much stronger than the electromagnetic force over the same distance. The energy released in nuclear reactors is many orders of magnitude greater than chemical energy because E=mc2.
Gravity and Black Holes
Having said all that, I want to think a bit more about the question outside the box. What is a neutron star? a black hole? A neutron star has a mass so great that it overcomes the electromagnetic force and pushes the electrons down onto the nucleus.
Proton+ + Electron- ->Neutron
I have put a plus charge on the proton and a minus charge on the electron to emphasize that they repel each other. So to push an electron out of its orbit and down to the surface of the proton must overcome the electrostatic repulsion between them.
The gravitational field needed to do this is more than 1040 times stronger than on Earth!! That star is basically made up of neutrons. Recall that Ernest Rutherford found that an atom has a very dense nucleus. Imagine the gravitational field of a star made up of nuclei rather than atoms! Under such strong gravitational fields, the electronic structure does depend upon gravity.
Same for black holes. Gravity is so strong that nothing can escape it, and it appears to dominate all other forces.
Finally, physicists seek a unified theory to describe the mechanics of all forces. Of the four forces, three have been unified (using quantum mechanics (quantum field theory really)). Only gravity is not understood.

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