How is the KE driving translational movement of an atom related (If at all) to the KE of that atom’s electrons surrounding the nucleus? When two atoms collide, can some of the kinetic energy imparted to an atom create movement like a ping pong ball, and some raise the energy levels of the electrons in the atom? Thanks in advance.
In answer to your second question, interatomic collisions can ionize atoms - which means that an electron or two has had its energy level changed enough that it can leave the atom entirely.
Let’s take an Hydrogen atom
Binding Energy of the electron to the Nucleus = 13.6 eV ~ 2 x 10^-18 J
Average kinetic energy of a molecule of hydrogen = 3/2 kT
At room temperature, 25C, this works out to
= (3/2) x 1.38 x 10^-23 (J/K ) x 298 K = 6 x 10^-21 J
So the average kinetic energy is about 1/ 300 of that required.
Now that’s an average, since it is a normal distribution, some molecules will have that high energy and will ionize.
Sure it can. If you heat the gas to 300 times the room temp ~ 10,000K you can see that will happen.
That’s called a plasma
Also wanted to add that noble gases are easy to ionize hence the preponderance of Neon and Argon signs. You don’t need to ionize all the atoms - just a very very few of them.
Mercury is a metal that is also easy to ionize and a few gaseous atoms are all that is needed for fluorescent lights.
That’s not right. Noble gases have the highest ionization energies, because their electronic levels are complete.
I never said anything about ionization energy.
Perhaps, I should have been clearer : For a given pressure, Nobel gases are the easiest to ionize in the sense that they have the least breakdown voltage.
Ionization energy is only a part of the picture. Things like mean free path (monoatomic gases aka noble gases have larger mean free paths), molecules versus atoms, and the recapture of the electron by the molecule / atom all play a part into the ionization of the gas.
This is why SF6 (a big heavy molecular gas) is used as an dielectric gas, rather than Argon.
This is probably obvious, but electrons weigh a lot less than protons and neutrons. Their kinetic energy depends on squared velocity too. I think the OP is right energy can be split between the nucleus and electrons, independent of ionization which may also occur.
But are there two separate values for the KE of an atom, that is, one for the value of the electrons, and one for the atom as a whole (so including the KE of the nucleus)? Meaning, If I kick an atom across the room, the atom has KE like a baseball, but the electrons orbiting the nucleus have their own KE. Are they related in any way?
Electrons have a limited number of possible KE values if they are to stay part of an atom. But the atom as a whole can have any KE value - so, not related.
The electrons in orbitals of an atom are constrained by quantum effects to have one of a set of very specific values of Kinetic Energy relative to the nucleus. The kinetic energy of the atom as a whole as it moves through space is entirely independent of that. Kinetic energy, given that it’s based on movement, has to be calculated in terms relative to something that is defined as not moving. Consider that an object “at rest” on the Earth’s surface is moving any number of different ways relative to other things. The Earth is rotating. The Earth is revolving around the Sun. The Sun is moving relative to other stars in the galaxy. The galaxy is moving relative to other galaxies. When you’re considering the electrons in their orbitals, the nucleus is considered to not be moving in the same way that when we talk about an object at rest on the Earth we ignore the movement of the Earth relative to everything else.
[quote=“KidCharlemagne, post:8, topic:915503”] … the electrons orbiting the nucleus have their own KE. Are they related in any way?
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No. That’s where the classical mechanics analogy stops and quantum mechanics takes over.
The electrons don’t orbit the nucleus in the classic way. Long back, it was shown that if a charged particle orbits another charged particle, it will emit energy (imagine a motor) and eventually slowdown and fall inside.
The orbits are more like probability distribution curves where it tells you the likelihood of finding an electron around the nucleus.