THE BOHR ATOM

Niels Bohr (1913) Electrons orbit the nucleus like planets around the sun. This theory works very well for hydrogen but not very well for any other element.
Niels Bohr was very highly regarded in Denmark

The Bohr-Rutherford solar system model of the atom. Still used today as the iconic symbol for an atom, but it is quite wrong!

Bohrs Theory Bohr refined Rutherford's model by suggesting that electrons can only occupy certain fixed radii (and hence energy) from the nucleus, and none between. This discrete model of the atom was the one of the first applications of Quantum Theory which said that only certain amounts of a quantity was allowed to exist for a given situation, rather than a continuous amount.

Electrons are in fixed energy orbits, but can move between orbits if they either gain or lose energy.

In this example an electron loses energy so it moves closer to the nucleus at a lower energy level.

The energy of the electron in orbit around the nucleus is determined by only an integer, n, denoting which energy level is being referred to. Bohr's model treats the simplest case of one electron orbiting one proton, i.e. the hydrogen atom. The energy of each energy level (in eV) is given by:

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Where did this rule come from ? When n gets very large, what happens to the energy ? If n could be , what is the energy of any electrons at this level ? What physical process is this ? Using the rule above, the energies of each level can be calculated. Can you see any trends ?

He suggested that if an electron gains energy (say by a collision with another electron or a light wave), then it will move to a higher energy level (higher n) and larger radius orbit, and gain potential energy. The electron will not stay in this orbit for very long and will then fall back down to a smaller radius of lower energy (smaller n) and thus lose energy. This energy is in the form of a photon of electromagnetic radiation (i.e. light, UV radiation, microwave, etc.).

Here is a simulation. The amount of energy gained or lost by an electron moving between various orbits is given by:

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Where: E is the energy of the nth orbit (J OR eV), c is the speed of light = 3.00 x 10 8 m/s, f is the frequency of electromagnetic photon absorbed or emitted (Hz), is the wavelength of electromagnetic photon absorbed of emitted (m) h is Planck's Constant = 6.626 x 10-34 Js or J/Hz OR = 4.136 x 10-15 eVs or eV/Hz Where did the second part of these equations come from ? Where did the second version of Planck's constant come from ?

This is the Energy Level Diagram for hydrogen. It shows the various energy levels (n values), their associated energies (in eV) and various series of electron movements (called transitions).

The coloured lines above indicate visible light photons that are emitted by electrons in a particular series. Can you figure out which series produces visible light photons ? EXAMPLE

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EXAMPLE Complete this: The larger the energy difference, the higher/lower the frequency of the photon emitted, and the longer/shorter wavelength of photon emitted.

Here, and here are simulations showing the various models of the hydrogen atom, including Bohr's.

Remember that only certain energy levels are allowed in Bohr's atom. Certain energy levels mean that only certain differences in energy are allowed, which means only certain frequencies of photon are allowed to be emitted, which means only certain wavelengths of photon are allowed.
All of this means that only certain colours of light (and also UV and Infra-red radiation) can be emitted by the hydrogen atom. This is known as the Emission Spectrum. Again several problems were quickly found with Bohr's Theory of the atom: It could not explain the spectra of any atoms with larger numbers of electrons. It could also not explain the different intensities (brightness) of the spectra of hydrogen or any other atom. It could not explain the fine splitting of the lines found in the spectrum of hydrogen. Bohr's theory could, however, explain why the electron didn't collide with the proton in the nucleus. What is the explanation ? EXAMPLES 1. What frequency of photon is emitted in the hydrogen atom when an electron falls from energy level n = 3 to n = 2 ?

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2. If a photon of wavelength 1.22 x 10 -7 m is observed emanating from the hydrogen atom, how much energy (in J) did the electron lose while emitting this photon ?

3. An electron orbits a proton with an energy of 0 eV. This is the lowest possible energy an electron can have in orbit around the proton and is called the Ground State. If a freely moving electron of 12.1 eV collides with the bound electron, what possible energies could the bound electron now have ?

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