Structure of Atom: The Space inside an Atom is not
empty!
In a perfectly isolated
atom, there are two types of forces acting on its
electrons. They are attraction from the nucleus and
repulsion between electrons (in hydrogen atom attraction
from the nucleus only). But these forces cannot cause
any kind of motion of electrons in an atom; in fact the
widely accepted model of atom is not consistent with the
theoretical and experimental observations. Since
electrons are not moving there must be a force which
prevents the electrons from falling into the positive
charged nucleus.
Volume of atoms (E.g., hydrogen atom still possesses
volume even after stripping off its electron) and
elastic nature of atoms (E.g, gas atoms move randomly in
high speed and bounce when they collide with other atoms
or its container) indicate that the nucleus of an atom
is surrounded by a form of elastic matter. I name this
matter as "space matter". So there are three factors
that determine the electron configuration in a
multi-electron atom. They are: a) attraction from the
nucleus, b) repulsion between electrons and c) buoyant
force exerted by space matter. [The electron
configuration in a hydrogen atom is determined by two
factors - Attraction from the nucleus and buoyant force
by space matter]. Buoyant force is the only force that
prevents the innermost electrons of an atom from falling
into the nucleus. The electrons other than one nearest
to the nucleus, repulsion with the electrons in the
inner region as well as the buoyant force exerted by
space matter keep the electrons in an atom in its
respective positions.
Since an atom of an element creates its own
characteristic pattern of spectrum lines when excited,
and in cold state the same atom creates absorption lines
in the same frequencies that the atom creates its
emission lines, we can conclude that the electrons in an
atom are situated in resonant columns.
When a low-energy electron collides with a
multi-electron atom, the atom emits long wavelength
radiations. But when a high-energy electron collides
with the same atom, the atom can emit both shorter and
longer wavelength radiations. As a low-energy electron
can only excite an atom's outer electrons, a high-energy
electron is capable of penetrating outer region of the
atom and to excite inner electrons. So we can understand
that, the space matter density in the inner region of an
atom is greater and it decreases with the increasing
distance from the nucleus and also, this difference in
densities creates different resonant columns in an atom.