Thread: atoms

what keeps the atom together?

I hope you are talking about compond atoms( atoms of a compound)
It is the linkage i.e. covalent bond or electrovalent bond which causes this.......
For covalent bonds as in O2 it is sharing of electrons which does this.
For electrovalent bonds it is transfer of elctrons as in NaCl.

"Atoms" of a "Compound"? please don't makes such mistakes!

Keeping atoms together I believe is the strong and weak nuclear forces

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_force

Well, the balance of protons, electrons, and effective neutrons keep the atom together. The neutron keeps the protons together and the protons keep the electrons orbiting around.

But I always wondered what keeps an electron together?
Its a ball of negative charge --- so what holds it together as 1 electron?

Originally Posted by anand_kapadia

I hope you are talking about compond atoms( atoms of a compound)
It is the linkage i.e. covalent bond or electrovalent bond which causes this.......
For covalent bonds as in O2 it is sharing of electrons which does this.
For electrovalent bonds it is transfer of elctrons as in NaCl.

I believe PritishKamat pointed this out.

anand_kapadia, you are talking about compounds not the atom per se. Those are intermolecular forces and have nothing to do with what keeps the unique oxygen atoms in O2 together forming the compound.

Originally Posted by DivideByZero

Originally Posted by anand_kapadia

I hope you are talking about compond atoms( atoms of a compound)
It is the linkage i.e. covalent bond or electrovalent bond which causes this.......
For covalent bonds as in O2 it is sharing of electrons which does this.
For electrovalent bonds it is transfer of elctrons as in NaCl.

I believe PritishKamat pointed this out.

anand_kapadia, you are talking about compounds not the atom per se. Those are intermolecular forces and have nothing to do with what keeps the unique oxygen atoms in O2 together forming the compound.

oh so it should be atoms of a molecule.

Strong nuclear force with gluons being the exhange guage boson. That is for Quantum mechanics that is.

Originally Posted by parag1973

what keeps the atom together?

The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons. The quarks within the protons and neutrons are bound together by the strong force, mediated by particles called gluons. All the protons and neutrons in a nucleus are bound by the residual strong force, mediated by neutral pions. The atom's electrons are bound to the nucleus by the electromagnetic force, which is mediated by photons.

Originally Posted by DivideByZero

But I always wondered what keeps an electron together?
Its a ball of negative charge --- so what holds it together as 1 electron?

Electrons, as far as we know, are elementary particles, meaning they do not contain any substructure. Thus, there are no particles within an electron that need to be held together.

What keeps the negatively chared electrons from merging with the positevly charged nucleus ?

Originally Posted by leohopkins

What keeps the negatively chared electrons from merging with the positevly charged nucleus ?

Don't quote me on this, but just to offer what I know... I think it's the momentum of an electron that keeps it in its orbital and keeps it from falling into the nucleus.

Originally Posted by Chemboy

Originally Posted by leohopkins

What keeps the negatively chared electrons from merging with the positevly charged nucleus ?

Don't quote me on this, but just to offer what I know... I think it's the momentum of an electron that keeps it in its orbital and keeps it from falling into the nucleus.

It's actually explained by quantum physics, and the electrons behaving as standing waves at certain discrete radii from the nucleus.