Brazilian researcher André Moravec has claimed that there are some inconsistencies in the
makeup of an atom which may have led to its concept being misunderstood for centuries
Moravec, author of the book Psikosmos - Logical Conception of a Physical Structure,
suggests that inconsistencies such as the huge difference between the masses of some
particles and the impossibility of the electron's orbital movement means that the structure of
an atom may not be as simple as humans understand it to be.
The concept and name of the atom emerged centuries ago in ancient Greece; but it was only
in the last century that its structure was experimentally studied and traced. According to
these studies, the atom is made up of three particles: the neutron, the proton (which together
form the nucleus) and the electron, which orbits the nucleus.
Andre Moravec said: “To facilitate understanding of the structure of the atom, it can be
simplified using just one particle - the nucleon. This, outside the nucleus, manifests itself in
two forms: unstable and stable.
“Under suitable conditions, the unstable one, after a few minutes, stabilizes by expelling an
electron while leaving a positron circling its surface. The expelled electron is attracted to the
positron and enters a simple harmonic motion (SHM), forming an electrosphere centered on
the nucleon.
“Inside the nucleus, the unstable one stabilizes while bound to a stable one, by sharing one
of its electrons with it. A stable nucleon stabilizes, at most, two unstable ones.”
Moravec says that while the unstable nucleon is known as the neutron, and the stable one
as the protium, the absence of the proton should be noted as it does not exist here. He
claims a stable nucleon, deprived of its electron, is an ion, or rather, a cation of protium.
Moravec added: “A stable nucleon with one unstable nucleon forms deuterium, and with two,
tritium. These, along with protium, constitute the isotopes of the hydrogen atom. Four
nucleons, two of which are stable, form the helium atom.
“An oxygen atom contains sixteen nucleons; thus, a water molecule, formed from one
oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, contains eighteen nucleons. Carbon has twelve
nucleons; then, carbon monoxide has twenty-eight nucleons. And so on, all substances,
living or dead, are formed only with an exact number of nucleons. One cubic centimeter of
water (1 g) contains an exact number of nucleons, which is Avogadro's number.”
It also follows, according to the author, that the mass of anything is the number of nucleons it
contains.
About André Moravec
Born in 1928 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, André Moravec arrived in Brazil in 1948. In 1958, he
graduated in Architecture from the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP). Between 1962 and
1963, he did an internship with the French government. He worked as an architect until his
retirement.
In 2020, he released the book Logmos - Concepção Lógica de uma Estrutura Física (ISBN
978-65-5822-010-7) - Psikosmos: Logical Conception of a Physical Structure (English
Edition), the result of the author's studies over the last 40 years, a period in which he
focused intensely on the world of theoretical physics and philosophy. André can be
contacted by email at andymora@terra.com.br.
