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here's an answer from Dr.Richard Feynman http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/II_01.html#Ch1-S1 You know, of course, that atoms are made with positive protons in the nucleus and with electrons outside. You may ask: “If this electrical force is so terrific, why don’t the protons and electrons just get on top of each other? If they want to be in an ...

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Both gravity and electrostatic forces depend on distance ($r$) like $1/r^2$. So changing the separation between 2 atoms changes both forces equally. So whichever force is stronger initially (at any distance) will always be stronger. To determine which is stronger consider the ratio of gravitational to electric force.  F_g/F_e = 4\pi \epsilon_0 G ...

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Consider the following model of an atom: Keep in mind that it is only a model and while it is a good model that elevates our understanding of the subatomic world, it is still just a model and reality will look different. How exactly? We don't know. The model is good enough, though, to understand what an excited atom is. With this caveat out of the way, ...

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Introduction In general, a Physical System State is described by a set of variables Let’s consider the “System Internal Energy” variable System States A System is said to be in its “Ground State” when it is at the lowest possible energy level Any other State is then an “Excited State” and they would correspond to energy level greater than the ground ...

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Basically electrons prefer to stay in least energy level in an atom. If certain amout of energy is given to it then it jumps to a higher energy level. There are discrete enegry levels so e- would accept only some particular energy to get exicted to higher energy level. When it returns to a lower state it gives out the energy in form of photons. Search ...

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Excitation is an elevation in energy level above an arbitrary baseline energy state. "In English, please!" So what this is effectively saying is that an atom is considered "excited" when its energy level is higher than the rest. This can be manifested as heat, light, etc. For example, the Aurora Borealis. The Aurora is when radiation from the sun ...

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What is physically wrong with having electrons in an atom be unstably configured? Think of it like this. Imagine that you have a theory that describes how the atoms work, and where you use the best of you knowledge of electromagnetism and Newtonian mechanics. SO you place some positively charged points particles and some negatively charged points ...

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Imagine two spheres of equal mass. One is stationary, the other has velocity $v$. If they get close enough, they "collide" and some of the momentum and energy of the moving sphere is transferred to the stationary sphere. That is the basic mechanism. The assumption is that gas molecules can be treated as spheres that collide elastically. This is true at ...

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An atom that gains one or more electrons will have a NEGATIVE charge. An atom that loses one or more electrons will have a POSTIVE charge. An atom that gains or loses one or more electrons is called an ION. A positive ion is called a CATION and a negative ion is called an ANION. Atoms will transfer one or more electrons to another to form the ionic ...

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If the atom is capable of $\beta$ + decay, then an electron might be lost after the event because the number of protons in the nucleus would have decreased by one. The tunneling to freedom idea in the comments is impossible because tunneling only happens when there is a finite potential barrier.

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You mean like a lone Hydrogen atom? Can the single electron in Hydrogen pack its bags and leave? Yes but only if it acquires the energy to leave, right? In this case the binding energy (due to the electromagnetic forces) in the ground state is $-13.6~\mathrm{eV}_,$ therefore if it somehow acquires this energy it will leave, forever! There are different ...

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