Since protons and electrons are oppositely charged, what prevents them from attracting to each other and just sticking together?
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Congratulations, you’ve just broken classical mechanics. Had you asked this question in 1880, you’d be halfway to winning a Nobel Prize.
Yes, the protons and electrons are attracted to each other. According to classical calculations, the electron of a hydrogen atom would collapse into the nucleus in 10^-33 seconds. Obviously, it doesn’t, so the question is “why?”
It turns out the electron is only allowed to be a certain distance away from the nucleus. It physically can’t be any closer than at its “allowed” orbital, and this distance is more than 0. That might not make sense to you, but quantum physics doesn’t.
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