7 ms·
Theoretically, how wide could an atomic radius get in deep space? Or does that mean that there is an infinitesimally small chance a electron could be found ver
by steve19 13y ago
Theoretically, how wide could an atomic radius get in deep space?
Or does that mean that there is an infinitesimally small chance a electron could be found very far away from the nucleus because there is nothing else for it to interact with in empty deep space?
(The physics problem you linked to is far beyond my understanding)
- ngoldbaum 13y agoI'm honestly not sure how large atoms can be, since there are an arbitrarily large number of high-n states in the limit where the electron is tenuously bound to the proton. I know that states with n ~ 100 are commonly observed (see Figure 3 of [1]) in Galactic and extragalactic star forming regions. This is because ionizing radiation creates a population of relatively recently recombined atoms where the electron happened to arrive in a high-n state. It's not that the electron has an infinitesimally small chance to be observed far away from the nucleus - it's quite likely actually if it lives in a high-n state - it's that collisions rates are so low that the system is out of thermodynamic equilibrium. Section III of these notes [2] describe the physics of Rydberg aroms and the radio recombination lines we observe from them quite nicely. [1] http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/549/2/979/pdf/52126.web.pdf http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/549/2/979/pdf/52126.web.... [2] http://www.ucolick.org/~krumholz/courses/spring10_ast230/notes9.pdf http://www.ucolick.org/~krumholz/courses/spring10_ast230/not...