My 8th grade student asks me: "Why don't electrons just fall into the nucleus?" I don't want to lie and tell them it's "just like the Moon not falling onto Earth, because of, you know, acceleration". I also don't have time to elaborate on quantum mechanics. What should I tell them?!
Asked
Active
Viewed 69 times
1 Answers
3
Tell them about QM!! I mean, don't spill the gory details, but let them know that (something like) this was a major question in early 20th century physics, and that to answer that question requires a more sophisticated description of the atom. Also, they probably all have computers. Email them a link to this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_quantum_mechanics
They don't need to understand everything, but I think its a pretty important lesson that physical theories all have varying levels of accuracy and corresponding complexity. The sooner they have this perspective the better!
anon01
- 1,631