Write . The shell theorem makes the potential energy of the Electron constant inside the charged spherical shell. Relative to the point-proton Coulomb potential, the perturbation is
It is positive: the finite charge distribution weakens the attraction close to the origin.
The first-order energy correction is the expectation value of this perturbation in the unperturbed hydrogen atom ground state. Integrating its probability density over spherical volume gives
For a proton radius much smaller than the Bohr radius, expand the exponential uniformly over this short interval. The leading integral is
Since , the signed fractional change is
Equivalently, to leading order: the energy increases and the binding-energy magnitude decreases. This is the finite proton-shell correction to hydrogen ground energy.
If no small-radius expansion is made, the same time-independent perturbation theory integral gives, with ,
Its expansion starts with , in agreement with the leading result. The integral is exact for the first-order calculation; it is not an exact solution of the perturbed Schrödinger equation.