A Note on Atomic Binding Energies

By the use of Dickinson's recent calculations of the diamagnetic field for atoms based on Hartree calculations, and a theorem due to Feynman, an expression is obtained for the total binding energy of the electrons in an atom as a function of atomic number. The results are compared with predictions of the Fermi-Thomas statistical model. It is found that the binding energy for small Z varies as Z7/3 in accord with the statistical model but for high Z the dependence on Z becomes approximately Z12/5. The equation for the binding energies is estimated to be correct to 5 percent or better.