College Physics 10th Edition by Raymond Serway,Chris Vuille

Exercise 25

The "size" of the atom in Rutherford's model is about 1.0 × 10 10 m. (a) Determine the speed of an electron moving about the proton using the attractive electrostatic force between an electron and a proton separated by this distance. (b) Does this speed suggest that Einsteinian relativity must be considered in studying the atom (c) Compute the de Broglie wavelength of the electron as it moves about the proton. (d) Does this wavelength suggest that wave effects, such as diffraction and interference, must be considered in studying the atom