Re: Odd nuclear question

[Bob Giansiracusa <bobgian@radonc.washington.edu>]

> Someone asked me if the orbital speed of an electron depended on it's
> distance from the nucleus.  The entirely unsatisfactory answer that I have
> is "I'm not sure".  Does anyone out there happen to know?  Any references
> would be nice as well, I'd like to brush up on this particular part of
> nuclear theory again.  

Isn't this one of those cases where the electron's distance and orbital
momentum are very close to the limits specified by the Uncertainty Principle?
If so, then it is barely meaningful to talk about the situation as if the
electron HAS a particular orbital speed and distance.

My QM is a bit rusty, but I seem to remember that this is why the Bohr model
of the atom can't be taken too seriously at these levels.

Bob

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