Proton, the ultimate dragster?

[36grit]

Does the proton go from 0 to C in a single plank length?

[Strange]

If you mean photon, then no. It starts off moving at c, it doesn't accelerate.

[swansont]

Protons never travel at c

[Silvestru]

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong

[36grit]

So, how fast do protons vibrate in the nucleus of an atom?

[Silvestru]

Protons don't vibrate. Are you thinking about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

[imatfaal]

Protons don't vibrate. Are you thinking about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

 

I think they might. Whilst they are not little balls huddled together with electrons whizzing around them in beautiful elliptical orbits there are quantum mechanical treatments which place protons within orbitals (weird shaped things) with expected velocities which are not zero - this is a long way from saying that proton_1 moved from point A to point B however. And protons are indistinguishable from each other so in a nucleus you cannot really even think of them as proton_1 and proton_2 - so much so that you can never tag an individual proton. But I think the wave-equations still have room for expected values of velocity, vibration, and shape of orbital

[swansont]

"Vibration" is a classical notion that you pretty much have to discard at this level of analysis.

[imatfaal]

"Vibration" is a classical notion that you pretty much have to discard at this level of analysis.

 

I was hoping you would weigh in - I understand on the vibration; the expected velocity value is not something I have imagined is it?

[swansont]

I was hoping you would weigh in - I understand on the vibration; the expected velocity value is not something I have imagined is it?

There will be energy levels, so you could do that analysis, but from what I know (and I don't do nuclear physics) you generally stay away from that extrapolation. Energy is a "good" quantum variable, so you tend to use that.

 

One area where a vibration of sorta comes into play is the semi-classical estimation of alpha decay. You can estimate how often an alpha collides with the potential barrier and use the tunneling probability to predict the half life.

 

Edit: there are vibrational analyses for nuclei. Googling on 'nuclear physics phonon' yields some results, but I don't know if that's analyzing individual nucleons, or the nucleus as a whole. The 'liquid drop model' deals with deformation of the nucleus and is part of the explanation of fission of heavy nuclei

[Silvestru]

Apologies, for weighing in but I thought that we have passed this concept.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality

Protons don't vibrate, and electrons don't move around the nucleus.

 

But I treat physics like a religion just trying to read from the right people and believing in them blindly without the ability to test for myself so please have mercy on my soul.

Edit: By the way I'm pretty sure the OP meant Photon not Proton and we are just really of course but this is more interesting I think.