An estimate for electrons in atoms

A typical energy for an electron in an atom is on the order of (1 volt)·e, which corresponds to a speed of about 1% of the speed of light. If a typical atom has a size on the order of 0.1 nm, how close are the electrons to the limit imposed by the uncertainty principle?

If we assume the electron moves in all directions with equal probability, the uncertainty in its momentum is roughly twice its typical momentum. This only an order-of-magnitude estimate, so we take Δp to be the same as a typical momentum:

This is on the same order of magnitude as Planck's constant, so evidently the electron is "right up against the wall." (The fact that it is somewhat less than h is of no concern since this was only an estimate, and we have not stated the uncertainty principle in its most exact form.)