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Supplement #7The Harmonizing Principles of the Universe Exemplified in the Construction of an Atom Rolf Witzsche 10/10/07 An atom is a miracle. In real terms it is empty space in which the miracle unfolds. At the center of this empty space an infinitesimally small particle is located that has, what we call, a positive electric charge, a charge of 1. We call the particle a positron. In addition at a 'large' distance from this center another particle is found that has a negative electric charge, a charge of -1, which we call an electron. While the positron at the center remains stationary, the electron is in constant motion, orbiting around the center with such a tremendous speed that it appears to be everywhere at once, creating the appearance of a solid sphere where in reality there is nothing there but empty space and two particles so small that their 'size' defies the imagination. Nevertheless that apparently solid sphere that is but encapsulated empty space is the building block of the visible and tangible universe. Here the question arises, why doesn't the electron particle that is moving so incredibly fast in its orbit simply fly away? We all know from experience that anything that is spun around a center wants to fly away by an effect called the centrifugal force. Since this effect reflects a universal principle, nothing is excepted from it, not even the electron. Indeed, the electron would fly away (in which case we would have no matter and no universe) is it wasn't for a harmonizing principle that keeps it in place and thereby enables the atom to exist. The harmonizing principle is the principle of electric attraction between particles of an opposite charge. The two opposite charged particles that in this case make up the atom want to get together. They attract each other. They have a hold on each other, just like the sun has a hold on the earth. In the solar system the attraction is by gravity. In an atom the attraction is caused by an electromagnetic force. Evidently this attracting force has been designed in such a manner that it balances precisely the centrifugal force by which the electron would escape. If any of these principles didn't exist, or didn't precisely harmonize, we would have no atom, no matter, and no universe. As you might know, the atom that I have described here as made up of only two particles is the hydrogen atom, the smallest and simplest of them all. There are a hundred different variations existing of this basic design that contain multiple electrons and an equal number of multiple protons, each variation constituting a different element such as that of iron or carbon. These variations of the basic atom incorporate multiple electrons, all of which share a common orbital space in which they are circling simultaneously though often at different orbital levels. A carbon atom, for example, has 6 of each type of particle, and uranium has 238 of each. Can you imaging how crowded it gets in the orbital space of an atom of 238 electrons? Would one expect major collisions? Indeed, one would, by which the atom would disintegrate. But that doesn't happen. In order to prevent the collision the universe has designed another harmonizing principle, the principle of electric repulsion by which particles of like charge repel each other so that collisions cannot occur. However, this principle of repulsion of equally charged particles that maintains harmony in the orbit would create a crisis at the core of the atom where numerous protons must exist side by side without repelling each other. In order to prevent them from repelling each other the universe invented another type of particle, called the neutron that has no electric charge at all, which, like an insulator fits neatly in between the protons to keep them out of each other's hair so that the core of the atom can exist in peace and not fly apart. In real terms the 'insulator' acts also like a glue of amazing complexity. In any case, the resulting atom thereby becomes a stable entity that functions forever, that doesn't wear out or ever looses its energy without external causes acting on it. The electrons in this equilibrium just keep on swirling around for billions upon billions of years, staging a stability by which the universe remains intact as a conglomeration of shapes created out of empty space by a tiny group of swirling electrons and a tiny central core that keeps the electrons in place. || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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