Re: [Phys-l] Prising electrons from the atom

["sridhar chitta" <sridhar10chitta@gmail.com>]

2)      Why cannot a hammer and chisel that can exert a force of say, 100
> Newtons be used to prise an electron away from the nucleus of a copper
atom
> in a copper bar given that the radius of an atom is of the order of
> 10-10meters and the electric force of attraction between a proton and
> an electron
> that are this far apart is a *mere 2.3 x 10**-8 **Newtons** ?* (Electric
and
> Magnetic Interactions by Sherwood and Chabay)
How do you know it can't be done?
How sure are you?

Hint:  triboelectricity (aka "static electricity").  There's lots
of that this time of year (in northern temperate regions).

One suggestion made by a machine tool designer is that the area over which
the sharp chisel transmits the force maybe considered to be "several" atoms
across and the stress is calculated as force / area. The stress is therefore
much smaller and this probablycannot be sufficient enough to prise the
electron.
And yet, I feel John Denker maybe right and I will need to look into the
triboelectricity aspect.

Thanks
Sridhar

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 11:46 PM, Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com
> wrote:

> "Radioactivity is an "earthly" occurrence.  Electron capture (i.e.
> inverse beta-decay of a neutron) is readily observable.  It is
> the merger of an electron into a nucleus." [JD]
>
>
>
> That's why it's called "K capture" and not l, etc. .  [referring to JU]
>
> bc  thinks, referring to what I think is sr's original thought,
> electron colliders have been doing this for years.
>
>
> On 2008, Dec 17, , at 08:19, Jack Uretsky wrote:
>
> > 1.  I don't think that yuu are reading the "simplified explanation"
> > carefully.  "Does not merge with" is not the same as "keeps away
> > from".
> > As a matter-of-fact the s-orbitals of hydrogen, for example, spend a
> > fraction of teir time inside the nucleus.
>
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Thanks
Sridhar Chitta