CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

I don't get the very first sentence, " An electron in an atom is like a particle in a box, in the sense that it is confined within the atom by the pull of the nucleus "
How are e- confined?

The nucleus is positively charged by protons. electrons are negatively charged. So, it takes tremendous amount of energy to try to pull electrons away from the nucleus. Thus, it is essentially confined to certain distance away from the nucleus.

I think what it means is that e- are pulled by the nucleus and therefore can't escape I suppose? Like a particle that is stuck inside a box.

It can escape, but you need to supply a sufficiently large enough energy to overcome the barrier (wall of a box)

Chem_Mod wrote:It can escape, but you need to supply a sufficiently large enough energy to overcome the barrier (wall of a box)

I had the same confusion, this was helpful. Thank you.

Electrons are found in orbitals surrounding the nucleus. The positive charge of the protons in the nucleus attracts the negatively charged electrons.