Why do electrons revolve around the nucleus instead of just being attracted directly it? The electron is negatively charged and the nucleus is positively charged so shouldn’t they just stick together?

They do not “revolve around the nucleus.” This model was abandoned by physicists over a century ago.

They are a kind of standing wave that is attracted to the nucleus. The standing wave is larger than the nucleus and cannot be sucked into. The electron fills a volume around the nucleus in a quantum mechanical manner.

There are many possible standing waves around a nucleus with different energies. These can be compared to the harmonics found on a drumhead. Each harmonic can only be occupied by one electron due to the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Because of this long-discarded model, successive electrons can occupy successive harmonics, which are unfortunately sometimes called orbitals.

Leave a Comment