CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

I understand that if an electron's velocity is greater than the speed of light, the problem was either done wrong or it was a trick question, but I am not sure why. Does this have anything to do with balancing energy within the atomic spectra?

Light travels faster than anything else, so it's not possible for anything to be faster than the speed of light.

I think it is because it isn't possible for a speed to be greater than the speed of light. So the electron's velocity being greater than the speed of light is impossible and would either mean it was done wrongly or the question might for example state that the model being tested is incorrect, like the question Dr Lavelle made us do during the end of lecture on Monday!

In the problem we went over in class, the uncertainty in the electron's velocity was calculated, through the Heisenberg Indeterminacy equation, to be greater than the speed of light. This results in us recognizing that the model is incorrect because atoms only exist based on their physical parameters, and nothing can travel at a speed faster than the speed of light. The calculated value of the uncertainty in the electron's velocity was greater than the speed of light, which is impossible because nothing with mass can travel faster than c, the speed of light. Essentially, because the speed of light is the fastest anything can travel, any velocity that is higher than that must be wrong.

Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.

I agree, with everyone basically if the velocity is greater than the speed of light you did something wrong, and then you can problem solve what you did wrong. The speed of light is always greater because nothing is faster than the speed of light.