Will the potential energy decrease because work is being done and thus converted to kinetic energy by the movement of the electron towards the proton despite the fact that the distance is reduced?
Or will the potential energy increase precisely because the distance between the two particles becomes smaller due to the attraction?
Answer
I don’t quite understand why you write “…despite the fact that the distance is getting closer”.
Potential energy refers to the potential (ability) of the system to provide energy. So it is a form of internal energy that someone has had to put into the system before (like a spring that is compressed and can then relax again).
When do two different charges have the greatest potential energy? If they are as far apart as possible. You put that potential energy into it yourself because you had to pull the charges apart against their attraction. The moment the two charges touch each other (if they have physical dimensions), they can do no more work.
The opposite is true for two charges of the same sign: there their potential energy is maximum when they touch and decreases as their mutual distance increases.
Answered by
Prof Walter Lauriks
Physics Acoustics
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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