[en] The Fermi-Teller theory was originally used to predict the stopping, by ionization losses, of slow charged particles in materials. The theory is based on a calculation of the energy cost to a uniform Fermi sea. However, the Fermi velocity cancels out in the derivation, so the calculated results also apply to a Thomas-Fermi atom, in which each volume element is considered to be a Fermi sea filled to the top of the potential well with atomic electrons. An outline is presented of the modifications required to make the Fermi-Teller theory valid for a slow monopole traversing an insulator using the Thomas-Fermi model of the atom