/sci/ - Science & Math

Because aren't in clear 'orbits', they are in 'orbitals'. An orbital is just a cloud that represents the area that an electron is 95% likely to be in. An electron could be anywhere though, according to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. As an electron moves closer to the nucleus, it lowers its potential energy and gains kinetic energy which moves the electrons back into a happy medium. The key point is to stop thinking of it as planets orbiting around a star, because that model is oversimplified to the point of being just wrong.