Volume 22: Pages 135-139, 2009

True nature of potential energy of a hydrogen atom

Koshun Suto ¹

¹5-24, Oote-Town, Isesaki-City, 372-0048, Japan

In considering the potential energy of a hydrogen atom, we offered the hypothesis that this physical quantity corresponds to the decrease in the electron’s rest mass energy. It is not possible to establish the ground state energy of a hydrogen atom without quantum mechanics. However, for the atom’s stability only, this can be explained even without using quantum mechanics. Our discussion reveals that there exists an off-limit boundary r_c within the electron inside a hydrogen atom.

Keywords: Bohr Radius, Potential Energy, Rest Mass Energy, Classical Electron Radius

Received: August 15, 2008; Accepted: February 9, 2009; Published Online: March 30, 2009