On 11/10/2014 07:02 AM, David L. Martel wrote:
Tom,

Most electrons do not "circle" the nucleus. They have complex orbits.
You've also got a "size" issue. If a proton is a chestnut then the
electron would be much smaller than an acorn. And the orbits are huge.
Atoms are mostly empty space.
What you plan is a fun project but it's important that your daughter
knows that real atoms don't look like that. Not at all.

Dave M.



But for a kid's project it's fine.

If one wanted to truly represent an atom one would have to be fully
versed in wave/ matter duality .


Sub-atomic particles do not exist per-se, as they are manifestations of
wave troughs.