Dynamic Electron Orbits in Atomic Hydrogen

Abstract

Even after extensive research in Quantum Mechanics, we are still unable to visualize instant-to-instant motion of an electron in hydrogen atom. That is because in QM treatment, potential energy term has been mistakenly assumed to be time-independent instead of depending on the instant-to-instant varying position of the orbiting electron [1]. This has led to wrong and weird solutions for the electron motion in hydrogen atom. Before the advent of wave mechanics, Sommerfeld model of elliptical electron orbits was able to explain most features of hydrogen spectra, except for the features associated with electron spin and magnetic moment interactions. However, the Sommerfeld elliptical orbits were of kinematic origin and could not provide visualization of instant-to-instant dynamic motion of the orbiting electron. Contrary to the QM perspective, we find that central core of the electron behaves as a classical particle while its electrostatic field behaves as a wave phenomenon. As such an electron under Coulomb force moves strictly in accordance with Newtonian laws of motion. In this paper, we develop dynamic electron orbits in hydrogen atom by using energy and angular momentum conservation principle in central force field. We have shown that during photon emission, angular momentum of the orbiting electron is changed by ħ due to recoil action. This may be the origin of various quantization rules. During emission of a photon, elliptical orbit transitions are also computed and plotted. Orbit transition time is of the order of 10-16 seconds. We have extended this methodology to compute electron orbits in hydrogen molecular bond and computed the H2 bond energy.