The universe is an Atom

Thought the same thoughts when i first saw the model of the atom ive heard it referred to as "the paper weight theory". It basically states we are nothing more then an atom in a paper weight on some ones desk in a larger universe .

However there is a reason for the similarity basic laws of magnetic pull and rotation apply to the universe as well as the atom, hence the similarities.

Part of the reason that this misconception occurs is that in elementary school science classes the atom is represented with spheres for electrons, protons and neutrons.

However, in real life, the atom is a pure waveform there are in fact no balls or spheres to see under an electron microscope. Here is what an actual hydrogen molecule looks like (after it is colorized based on charge):



Next......

[edit on 4/25/2008 by Choronzon]

Here are some references regarding the atom and its form.

As has been noted the Bohr model for the atom was discarded long ago.

Electrons don't orbit the nuclei as planets orbit the sun.

Electron cloud is a term used, if not originally coined, by the Nobel Prize laureate and acclaimed educator Richard Feynman in The Feynman Lectures on Physics for discussing "exactly what is an electron?". This intuitive model provides a simplified way of visualizing an electron as a solution of the Schrödinger equation. In the electron cloud analogy, the probability density of an electron, or wavefunction, is described as a small cloud moving around the atomic or molecular nucleus, with the opacity of the cloud proportional to the probability density.

The electron cloud formulation better describes many observed phenomena, including the double slit experiment, the periodic table and chemical bonding, and atomic interactions with light. Although lacking in certain details, the intuitive model roughly predicts the experimentally observed wave-particle duality....

In the electron cloud model, rather than following fixed orbits, electrons bound to an atom are observed more frequently in certain areas around the nucleus called orbitals. The electron cloud can transition between electron orbital states, and each state has a characteristic shape and energy, all predicted by the Schrödinger equation, which has infinitely many solutions. Experimental results motivated this conceptual refinement of the Bohr model.

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

science.howstuffworks.com...

web.jjay.cuny.edu...

Google Search: Structure of the Atom


[edit on 2008/4/25 by GradyPhilpott]

reply to post by Quest


Definately. They now use the word "orbitals" to describe electron clouds. Which, despite the name are not orbits.

www.orbitals.com...

And the last few posts above mine describe it just as well

[edit on 25-4-2008 by TheBandit795]

I have often sat and pondered the question posed by the OP. Are we(the universe) just a particle part of an even larger universe, and do the particles in our universe represent other universes, ad infinitum? An interesting philosophical question for the time being, and one that I don't see modern science answering any time soon.

reply to post by Choronzon


Awesome, thanks for that. I pondered with the same theory as well but the typical animated atom has made it easy for us to make that misconception. If the solar system was more like an atom wouldn't earth have an indefinite orbit? Anyway there are more threads like this but the titles are never easy to find.

[edit on 25-4-2008 by beaverg]

I wonder how the proportions would scale up...

Say take the distance between the nucleus and the electrons (I seem to rember something along the lines of if the nucleus was football size and placed in the centre of wemberly stadium - the closest electron would be pea sized and wizzing round the M25... no idea if that's right)

Scale up the nucleus to the size of our sun and see where the planets/electrons should be.

I just can't be bothered to find the numbers right now - consider it home work fellow ATSers

We are now discovering quantum theories that are much smaller than atoms and can change when needed to. As we do as a human race. We adjust to the changes or environments around us. Are we part of that smaller than an atom quantum theory equation? Look at the double slit experiment and imagine us as the light. With as many races that we have on our beautiful planet and the interference from all of us clashing together and trying to become the top dog we are more separated than ever. W#watch this and see.


And then you have to throw in everything else into the mix that involves the human race not just light. Just a thought about how the smallest and biggest play a role in this universe. Are we part of the electrons that are a part of the matter that makes us up. If so is this why we have free will or can change our minds and do different things when we want to. And if we think someone is watching us do we go back to being normal?

[edit on 4/25/2008 by Solarskye]

[edit on 4/25/2008 by Solarskye]

Perhaps, this particular universe is smaller than an 'Atom' but never too large to imagine.

Originally posted by DaNReD
if anyone agrees or knows some way how this is noway possible please reply. because of limited knowlege about atoms, and we cant see close enough to see just something else, means that it could be possible.

You're not really so far off base, it's just that the truth is a bit different than your teachers may themselves have known. The structure of the various atoms in the periotic chart are far more complicated and interesting than the simple analogy to a solar system.

Perhaps the shape of a galaxy or the entire universe itself might be closer to what is being discovered:

There are different models of the structure of the atom. One of the first models was created by Niels Bohr, a Danish physicist. He proposed a model in which electrons circle the nucleus in "orbits" around the nucleus, much in the same way as planets orbit the sun. Each orbit represents an energy level which can be determined using equations generated by Planck and others discussed in more detail below. The Bohr model was later proven to be incorrect.

The "accepted" model is the quantum model. In the quantum model, we state that the electron cannot be found precisely, but we can predict the probability, or likelihood, of an electron being at some location in the atom.

-snip-

Chemists care about where electrons are in an atom or a molecule. In the early models, we believed that electrons move like billiard balls, and followed the rules of classical physics. The graphic below attempts to show that earlier models thought that we could identify the exact path, position, velocity, etc. of an electron or electrons in an atom:



A more accurate picture is that the electron(s) reside in a "cloud" that surrounds the nucleus of the atom. This concept is shown in the graphic below:



www.shodor.org...

I've always been taught that atoms are the building blocks of life so why not start at the smallest ( Quantum) to the atom to insects to plants to smaller animals to us humans to our trees, atmosphere and beyond. If we are indeed connected then we all come from the same energy. Our world, our solar system, our galaxy, our universe and other things we have no way of seeing big or small have a connection and live together.

[edit on 4/25/2008 by Solarskye]