How do you think the electrostatic force between two objects would change if the distance between the two objects is doubled?
Therefore, if the distance between the two charges is doubled, the attraction or repulsion becomes weaker, decreasing to one-fourth of the original value. If the charges come 10 times closer, the size of the force increases by a factor of 100. The size of the force is proportional to the value of each charge.
Why do electron pairs repel each other?
According to VSEPR, the valence electron pairs surrounding an atom mutually repel each other; they adopt an arrangement that minimizes this repulsion, thus determining the molecular geometry. This means that the bonding (and non-bonding) electrons will repel each other as far away as geometrically possible.
What happens when two electrons get closer together?
But an interesting thing can happen when the two atoms get close together. The electron in each atom starts to notice the proton of the other atom. This negatively charged region between the two protons is created by two electrons. And electrons tend to repel each other.
What happens if an electron touches a proton?
In time, the electron reacts with the proton via its overlapping portion, collapses to a point in the nucleus, and disappears as it becomes part of the new neutron. Because the atom now has one less proton, electron capture is a type of radioactive decay that turns one element into another element.
What happens if an electron meets a proton?
If a single proton and a single electron meet, they will form a hydrogen atom.
Can atoms be broken apart?
Under normal circumstances an atom can be broken down into any smaller particles, but we humans, have devised ways to break the atom apart. That is the entire basis of the atom bomb, particle colliders, and quarks. It takes high speed, high energy smashing of particles to break an atom.
Why are atoms so hard to break apart?
It depends on the atom, or more specifically, on the size of its nucleus. There is a competition between the electrical repulsion of the protons (that drives the nucleus apart) and the attraction of the protons and neutrons (due to chromodynamics). For nuclei above a certain size, the repulsion tends to win.
Can an atom split naturally?
If the nucleus of a heavy atom–such as Uranium–absorbs a neutron, the nucleus can become unstable and split. This is called nuclear fission. Although fission can occur naturally, fission as encountered in the modern world is usually a deliberate man-made nuclear reaction.