13
Pauli
Exclusion Principle
•
•From
quantum rules, electrons don’t like to be packed
into a small space,
either in atoms or in ionized gas
•At
normal ionized gas densities, electrons are so spread out quantum rules don’t matter.
•As
high enough ionized gas densities, quantum rules need to be considered, just has they have been in
atoms
•Think
of each “atom sized” region of space having a set of energy levels associated with it (although it is really more complicated)
•An energy level can only hold one electron
(2 if we allow opposite electron “spins”)
(2 if we allow opposite electron “spins”)
–In
multi-electron atoms, you can have at most two electrons in each energy level.
–In
gas, to pack more electrons in same volume, new ones must be placed in higher
energy levels
(i.e. be going faster) than existing ones
(i.e. be going faster) than existing ones
From our text: Horizons, by Seeds