[jmcosta (OP)]

Hello,
well, in my mind questions, along my thoughts, I am wondering if Atoms/electrons ... spin/rotate they have to rotate in the same direction as the planets around the sun, anticlockwise, because if not it will against nature, what do You think?
Greetings
Joao

[JP]

This is a complex question: for fundamental particles like electrons, photons, etc. there is a property called "spin" which makes the particles act in some ways that are similar to classical spheres that are spinning about some axis, for example generating magnetic fields if they are charged.  In other ways, they don't act like classical spinning objects (for one thing, all attempts to measure their size have found that they are smaller than our best measuring devices, and smaller than they would need to be if they were real, spinning objects with the same physical properties such as magnetic fields).

For electrons orbiting atoms or other fundamental particles in orbits, there is something called orbital angular momentum, which means they act as if they are moving in some orbit, just like planets.  Again, this can be measured in terms of their effects when they strike something or the magnetic/electric fields they give off.  But we know that they don't quite behave like planets--for one thing, if an electron were orbiting the nucleus just like a planet, it would give off energy in the form of electromagnetic waves, and this would quickly cause it to spiral into the nucleus.  Electrons orbiting an atom actually act a lot like smeared out waves in many ways. 

With all those caveats, they still don't have the same spin/angular momentum as planets.  The reason is that the planets and sun formed from a spinning disk of matter, so they all rotate and revolve around the sun in a manner determined by this initial disk.  Fundamental particles and atoms are not formed by the same type of process, so they don't all rotate in the same direction.  In fact, there are rules that the electrons you put into an atom have to actually spin in alternating directions and have different angular momenta due to the odd rules of quantum mechanics.   

[Phractality]

Planets are held in orbit by gravity; electrons are held in orbitals by electromagnet forces. The electromagnetic between an electron and a proton is about 40 orders of magnitude stronger than gravity.
That's 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000 to 1.  As far as an atom is concerned, gravity doesn't exist, so the orbital plane of the planets has no effect on the internal structure of atoms.

[evan_au]

As someone living in the Southern Hemisphere, I challenge the notion that the planets orbit the Sun anti-clockwise. That direction is purely based on where you are standing (Northern or Southern hemisphere).

Planetary systems formed from different positions in a gas cloud would presumably have totally different orbital planes. So there is no single "right" direction of rotation for planets (or electrons).

While it is true that atoms are often shown with electrons orbiting the nucleus in concentric circles, in fact the electron orbits form 3-dimensional shapes. Only the "s" orbitals (eg the ground state for Hydrogen & Helium) is spherical; the others take on more complex shapes, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_configuration

Once the atoms form molecules, more orbital shapes appear, like hexagons or even more bizarre shapes.

[CliffordK]

Keep in mind that a bohr diagram is a poor representation of the actual form of atoms.  The electrons do not lie in a plane as planets do.  Perhaps with the partial exception of Hydrogen.

I believe typically the electron spin is "random".

There may be a few exceptions.

A strong magnetic field such as in an MRI or NMR can be used to temporarily orient the spin of all the hydrogen atoms in the same direction, but they rapidly revert to a random pattern once the magnetic field is released.

Permanent magnets (generally ceramic based), may also have a resonance pattern between the atoms, and thus, at least some of the electron orbitals would have the same orientation (which can be allowed to orient with the planet's magnetic field).

[evan_au]

Because electrons can travel throughout a piece of metal, electrons are not limited to orbit a single atom. The surface over which an electron can move is called the Fermi Surface. Some good visualisations here: http://www.phys.ufl.edu/fermisurface/

[syhprum]

Phractality

I think the actual ratio is more like 10^36 but I love your comma less representation of it

[Ophiolite]

Keep in mind that a bohr diagram is a poor representation of the actual form of atoms.  The electrons do not lie in a plane as planets do.  Perhaps with the partial exception of Hydrogen.

In what way is hydrogen an exception? I thought the probability function for the location of the electron was a spherical cloud around the proton. Am I mistaken? (I am likely using probability function very loosely here, but I hope my meaning is clear.)

[Phractality]

Phractality

I think the actual ratio is more like 10^36 but I love your comma less representation of it

The number of zeroes depends on whether you're talking about electron-electron repulsion, electron-proton attraction, or proton-proton repulsion. The electrostatic force field has the same magnitude for a proton or an electron, but the gravity differs by several orders of magnitude due to the different masses. The proton's mass is about 2000 times greater than that of the electron.

[Pmb]

Hello,
well, in my mind questions, along my thoughts, I am wondering if Atoms/electrons ... spin/rotate they have to rotate in the same direction as the planets around the sun, anticlockwise, because if not it will against nature, what do You think?
Greetings
Joao

Simply put - There is no reason to make such an assumption. And it turns out to be wrong anyway. And I'm not even sure what it means to 'Go against nature'. Do you mean "Break a law of physics"?  There is no law of physics that says that all objects must orbit in the same direction. In fact it seems quite concievable that an object could change their sense of orbit by interacting with other objects gravitationally. All that has to be done is to make sure the total angular momentum and energy is conserved in the process.

[Pmb]

The reason is that the planets and sun formed from a spinning disk of matter, so they all rotate and revolve around the sun in a manner determined by this initial disk.     

That doesn't apply to moons though. Our moon formed when a body smashed into the earth. Depending on how that collision occured the orbits could have been in different directions. Then there's the direction of orbit of the rings of planets. There's even one planet whose ringes are nearly perpendicular to the plane the planets are orbiting in. Do you know of any moons that orbit in the opposite sense than the body they're orbiting is rotating?

[CliffordK]

Do you know of any moons that orbit in the opposite sense than the body they're orbiting is rotating?

Triton has a retrograde orbit to Neptune, and is thought to have been "captured".

I believe Venus and Pluto has retrograde rotation.

[evan_au]

I thought the probability function for the location of the electron was a spherical cloud around the proton.

This is true if it were possible to obtain an isolated hydrogen atom at absolute zero  - the electron will be in the spherical 1s orbital.

However, if the temperature is raised to achievable temperatures, the electron will jump between different orbitals as it absorbs and emits photons; many of these higher orbitals are not spherical.

If the hydrogen atom is not isolated in a vacuum, it will couple up with another hydrogen atom, forming H₂; the electron cloud is no longer spherical, even at absolute zero.

The Bohr model of electron orbits is often represented diagrammatically in books as a flat plane with circular electron orbits - which looks very much like a diagram of our Solar System. This textbook simplification from 3D to 2D may have prompted the OP.

[Pmb]

I thought the probability function for the location of the electron was a spherical cloud around the proton.

This is true if it were possible to obtain an isolated hydrogen atom at absolute zero  - the electron will be in the spherical 1s orbital.

I don't understand something. Who are you quoting? I can't find any post in this thread where anybody said what you quoted. You also said "If" it were possible to obtain ... Why the "if" qualifier? There's no reason to use this since its quite possible for a hydrogen atom to be in that state. I fact I recall that most hydrogen atoms in a gas at room temperature would be in that state.

[CliffordK]

I thought the probability function for the location of the electron was a spherical cloud around the proton.

This is true if it were possible to obtain an isolated hydrogen atom at absolute zero  - the electron will be in the spherical 1s orbital.

Doesn't Helium also have a pair of 1s orbitals which are also described as spherical (and since it doesn't easily bond with other atoms, it would maintain a spherical shape. 

Other orbitals such as the p orbitals are generally described as non-spherical.

[evan_au]

Thanks, Clifford - I had to look up your instructions on attributing quotes!

Helium is a good example of spherical orbitals; however, Ophiolite specifically mentioned hydrogen, whose spherical electron cloud is often distorted by its strong tendency to bond with other atoms (including other hydrogen atoms).

I see that the transitions to and from hydrogen's ground state involve photons in the high-energy ultraviolet range, so although absolute zero might be unobtainable, I see that getting nearly all of the electrons in a hydrogen gas cloud into the 1s orbital looks relatively easy.
 

[Pmb]

evan_au  - I don't know if you missed my question and that's why you didn't respond but I asked who you were quoting.

[flr]

Keep in mind that a bohr diagram is a poor representation of the actual form of atoms.  The electrons do not lie in a plane as planets do.  Perhaps with the partial exception of Hydrogen.

In what way is hydrogen an exception? I thought the probability function for the location of the electron was a spherical cloud around the proton. Am I mistaken? (I am likely using probability function very loosely here, but I hope my meaning is clear.)

H is no exception, of course. Its 1s orbit is of spherical symmetry.   

[Phractality]

There is a law of conservation of angular momentum. If the total angular momentum of the universe is zero, as appears to be the case, then things can't all spin in the same direction. That is what would be against nature.

[Pmb]

However in curved spacetime you can't add angular momenta.