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light in the tunnel
In my quest to understand how energy can transfer through empty space without a material medium, I have turned to EM fields. I assume that magnetism affects objects and particles without them coming in contact with one another. I read somewhere that photons are involved with this process. Also, are electrons and protons magnetically attracted to one another in a molecule, and if so why does the electron remain in orbit instead of colliding with the proton/nucleus?

Sorry if these are dumb questions. I am trying to take a fresh approach to see if it will aid my learning.
rpenner
The electron and proton have no magnetic charges on them, so they are not strongly magnetically attracted to each other.

They do have equal and opposite electrostatic charges, so they are strongly electrostatically attracted to each other.

But they reason why electrons never spiral in to zero radius and cause the collaspe of all matter cannot be described in the physics prior to 1920 or so, and since you haven't yet mastered the physics of 1865, I would suggest that a university textbook would be your information source of choice.
light in the tunnel
QUOTE (rpenner+Oct 20 2009, 02:08 AM)
But they reason why electrons never spiral in to zero radius and cause the collaspe of all matter cannot be described in the physics prior to 1920 or so, and since you haven't yet mastered the physics of 1865, I would suggest that a university textbook would be your information source of choice.

As the internet gained popularity and progressed technologically, I studied the democratization of knowledge that would occur through hypertext as a new medium for gathering and synthesizing information. Textbooks can be handy, as can be organized courses with syllabi, assignments, exams, etc., but since the internet is available as an information resources, I don't see anything wrong with utilizing it as such. Apparently you do?

Certainly I understand if some of the concepts I inquire about represent a level of knowledge that seems unbridgeable to a thoroughly trained scholar. I don't expect to put anyone out if explaining something causes them too much of a headache. Still, I like browsing the threads on this forum and posting comments and questions which seem relevant to the discussion and especially my learning process. I hope you can appreciate my hypertextual approach and I will certainly keep my eyes open for a good used textbook. Thanks for the tip.

Also, thanks for pointing me in the direction of "electrostatics." I will google it.
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