posted on Jun, 5 2004 @ 03:27 AM
Well, the solar system is no longer the modern model of the atom. The planets can't just stay in certain orbits and can only be changed to another
orbit with a very precise amount of energy. Electrons can't stay between two levels. This has to do with the solutions of the electron's
quantummechanical probability function, which only permits certain solutions. This also bring us to the second point, electrons are now no longer seen
as points, but a cloud where the electron probably is.
In conclusion, the solar system is a nice analogy if you want to explain the atom to someone that doesn't know anything about the atom, but when you
look deeper into the structure of both the analogy breaks down.