PROTON AND NEUTRON QUESTION- PHYSICS

Question

Consider a proton and an electron placed near one another with no other objects close by. They would ...

accelerate away from each other.

remain motionless.

accelerate toward each other.

be pulled together at constant speed.

move away from each other at constant speed.

Answer 1

You are describing the atom of ordiary hydrogen, none of your examples apply in this case.

Answer 2

accelerate toward each other. (due to electrstatic force)

Answer 3

You can't really say without further information. The simplistic answer 'accelerate toward each other' is only valid if you neglect quantum mechanical and quantum field effects, which at very small distances play a major role. For instance, the electron in a hydrogen atom stays within a definite zone around the proton that constitutes the nucleus, without ever falling toward it. Starting at even smaller distances, the two particles would interact in a complex way but would eventually move apart. On the other hand, if the right velocity is imparted initially, the two particles would interact nuclearly and form a neutron, among other things. The answers 'remain motionless', 'be pulled together at constant speed' and 'move away from each other at constant speed' are always wrong because to occur this would require an impossible balance among the intervening forces.

Answer 4

a positively charged proton would be attracted (accelerate toward) a negatively charged electron and vice versa.  The speed would not be constant because the attractive force would increase as proximity increased.

Answer 5

Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged, (neutron neutral).  Opposites attract each other, so with just an electron and a proton, they would come together.