If an atom is put into motion will a constituent electron's wave spread over a LARGER region of space and will its energy be more dissipated?My understanding is that a quantum event such as an electron moving between atomic levels takes place smoothly and continuously over a small discrete time interval during which time its energy will be relatively unstable.Also an electron can spread out into a wave that extends over a region of space.If an atom is put into motion will the electron's wave spread over a LARGER region of space than when stationary resulting in less energy per unit volume of space?

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If an atom is put into motion will a constituent electron&#039;s wave spread over a LARGER region of space and will its energy be more dissipated?My understanding is that a quantum event such as an electron moving between atomic levels takes place smoothly and continuously over a small discrete time interval during which time its energy will be relatively unstable.Also an electron can spread out into a wave that extends over a region of space.If an atom is put into motion will the electron&#039;s wave spread over a LARGER region of space than when stationary resulting in less energy per unit volume of space?

Abigailf91er · Accepted Answer

One does not really have to put atom in motion, but simply look at it from a moving (inertial) reference frame - with the same effect.In fact, an atom consists of several particles: the nucleus and the electron(s). Just as in classical mechanics, one can decompose their motion into the motion of the center-of-mass of the atom and the relative motion of the particles in respect to each other. When treating the Hydrogen atom good quantum mechanics books usually explicitly spell this step, although it may get easily forgotten among all the complexities of solving the Schrödinger equation (for the relative motion!), the atomic orbitals, selection rules, etc.

If an atom is put into motion will a constituent electron's wave spread over a LARGER region of spac

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