Question

In an atom, electrons revolve around a nucleus in circular orbits. Can this be treated as an electric current? If an electron revolves around a nucleus $2000$ times in one second. What is the equivalent current? Given the charge of the electron as $1.6\times {10}^{-19}C$.

Answer 1

1. Electric current is defined as the flow of charge per unit of time.
2. When an electron is revolving around a nucleus then also a rate of flow can be defined.
3. So, yes this can be treated as an electric current.

Step 1: Given data and formula:

We are given,

The number of revolutions is $2000$.

This is equivalent to assuming that there are $2000$ electrons passing at a particular second.

$t=1s$

$q=1.6\times {10}^{-19}$C

The formula of current is, $I=\frac{q}{t}$.

Step 2: Calculating the current:

As there are $2000$ electrons moving in an instant the total charge is given as $2000$ multiplied by the charge of each electron.

So, the required current is given as,

$I=\frac{2000\times 1.6\times {10}^{-19}}{1}$A

$I=3.2\times {10}^{-16}A$