Simplified Step-by-Step Nonlinear Static Program Investigating Equilibrium Conditions of Electrons in Atom and Ionization Energies: Case Study on Argon

Abstract

For investigation of equilibrium conditions of electrons in an atom, and Ionization Energies of Elements, a simplified deterministic static model is proposed. The electrons are initially uniformly and sparsely arranged on the outer surface of nucleus. Then, by taking into account the nucleus-electron interaction (attractive and repulsive) and the mutual electron-electron repulsions, and by a simple step-by-step nonlinear static analysis program, all the electrons are found to equilibrate on the outer surface of the same sphere, which is concentric and larger than nucleus. In a second stage, starting from an equilibrium sphere of electrons, one of the electrons is subjected to gradual forced removal, radially and outwards with respect to nucleus. Within each removal step, the produced work increment is determined and the increments are summed. When no more significant attraction is exerted by nucleus to removed electron, the total work gives the Ionization Energy. After removing of single electron, the remaining electrons fall on a lower shell, that is, they equilibrate on the outer surface of a smaller concentric sphere. For nucleus-electron interaction, an L-J (Lennard-Jones) type curve, attractive and repulsive, is adopted. When the parameter of this curve is n > 1.0, the Ionization Energy exhibits an upper bound. As parameter n increases from 1.0 up to 2.0, the attractive potential of L-J curve is gradually weakened. The proposed model is applied on Argon. It is observed that, as the number of electrons increases, the radius of equilibrium sphere increases, too, whereas the attractive nucleus-electron potential is reduced; thus the Ionization Energy is reduced, too. Particularly, as the number of electrons and the radius of equilibrium sphere exceed some critical values, the above two last quantities exhibit abrupt falls. A regular polyhedron is revealed, which can accommodate Elements up to atomic number Z = 146, that is 28 more than Z = 118 of existing last Element, as guide for initial locations of electrons in the above first program.