4 ms·

As I understand it, atomic orbitals share only their name with the orbits of objects in space. The underlying mechanics are completely different, so the concept

• egberts1 5y ago
  But the principle of Lagrange Points (interaction of 3-body) could be expanded and then delve into n-body, and that too could apply to anything orbital, atomic including?
  • aw1621107 5y ago
    > But the principle of Lagrange Points (interaction of 3-body) could be expanded and then delve into n-body Given that there's no known analytical closed-form solution to the unrestricted 3-body problem, let alone the arbitrary n-body problem, I think there are good reasons to be skeptical that such a generalization is possible. Not to mention the idea of a Lagrange Point arguably becomes iffy in such situations. For example, what might a Lagrange Point be for the figure-8 3-body orbit [0]? And how would you define Lagrange points for a chaotic system? > and that too could apply to anything orbital, atomic including? Not really. As I said, the name is pretty much the only common thing between atomic orbitals and orbits in space. The equations used to describe the motions of celestial bodies are completely inapplicable to the motions of subatomic particles. [0]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/xlWIh.gif https://i.stack.imgur.com/xlWIh.gif