What is the problem with a solar system model of the atom?
1 Answer
It is a Classical Physics' problem!
Explanation:
The "solar system" model describes an atom as a central massive positive entity (the nucleus/sun) and, orbiting around it, the negative entities (the electrons/planets).
The problem with this is that the electrons are CHARGED particles and moving around in a circle they have CENTRIPETAL acceleration (even if they move with constant velocity in modulus the direction of this velocity changes continuously giving rise to the centripetal acceleration). An accelerated charge (electron) would then radiate energy as electromagnetic radiation and rapidly lose energy and fall inside the nucleus....but this does not happens!
So, even if this model looks very tempting (drawing a parallel between BIG and small in physics) it cannot account for the complete picture.
