Energy

[Darren]

Please excuse my ignorance if I seem to ask very basic questions but I am looking to gain a better understanding of things I do not know but know I need. In the pursuit of energy what would happen if a Hydrogen Atom was pressurized causing the electron to orbit closer to the nucleus. Thank you in advance for your time.

[timo]

Not really sure what "pressurizing" an atom means. More precisely, what putting pressure on something means on an atomic level. A large quantity of hydrogen atoms in a container will increase pressure when their container size is reduced, and the energy of that system will increase. That is, however, not due to the energy of a single atom but because of their mutual energy (the energy of their interaction, the potential energy). And it's not what you asked, either.

 

To not-answer the question from the other side: Any electron state that is not the ground state has a higher energy than the ground state. I.e., if the "electron orbits closer to the nucleus" (assuming that is possible for a ground state), then the energy is increased wrt. the ground state (the lower binding energy is offset with higher kinetic energy). That does, of course, not explain what would cause such a state in the first place (or if such a state is even possible).

[studiot]

Is this a question about condensed matter?

[Darren]

Thank you Timo, so if we were to fill a container with Hydrogen Gas and reduce the size of the container the gas would generate internal pressure within the container this would stimulate interaction between the atoms which would create a form of energy. Could this energy then be harnessed to generate an electrical current.

[EdEarl]

Releasing pressurized gas through a turbine can generate a bit of electricity. AFAIK hydrogen is not piezoelectric. The basic idea behind "generating electricity" is transforming energy in one form into another, not creating energy. Energy cannot be created. Thus, no matter how you use the energy of pressurization to generate electricity, you loose the pressure.

[Enthalpy]

Hydrogen seems to be the most "compressible" atom, from the measures of liquid and solid compressibility I made. Its volume (vague notion, yes) also depends hugely on the atom it is bound to: oxygen reduces the size of hydrogen, carbon little so.

 

Under pressure, the volume of hydrogen can shrink well below the liquid or solid known at 1 atm. If the density increases enough, hydrogen becomes a metal, so the bonds extend then to the whole crystal, instead of pairs of atoms.

 

With even more pressure, I suppose we observe directly the degeneracy pressure, because hydrogen has no electron shell deeper than the binding electrons. Other atoms would first resist by these deeper shells.