Bohr Model of the Atom

Manjunath.R
#16/1, 8th Main Road, Shivanagar, Rajajinagar, Bangalore560010, Karnataka, India
*Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
*Website: http://www.myw3schools.com/

Abstract

Through his experiments, the physicist Neils Bohr improved upon Rutherford's model of the atom
and developed his model of the atomic structure in 1913 that succeeded in explaining the spectral
features of the hydrogen atom. A simple means for extending the conventional non-relativistic Bohr
model of the atom to include the wave nature of electrons is presented. As the derivation requires
basic knowledge of classical and wave mechanics, it can be taught in standard courses in modern
physics and introductory quantum mechanics.

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 Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who is generally regarded as one of the foremost physicists of
the 20th century. He was the first to apply the quantum concept, which restricts the energy of a
system to certain discrete values, to the problem of atomic and molecular structure. For that work
he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. His manifold roles in the origins and development
of quantum physics may be his most-important contribution, but through his long career his
involvements were substantially broader, both inside and outside the world of physics.

In 1911, fresh from completion of his PhD, the young Danish physicist Niels Bohr left Denmark
on a foreign scholarship headed for the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge to work under J. J.
Thomson on the structure of atomic systems. At the time, Bohr began to put forth the idea that
since light could no long be treated as continuously propagating waves, but instead as discrete
energy packets (as articulated by Planck and Einstein), why should the classical Newtonian
mechanics on which Thomson's model was based hold true? It seemed to Bohr that the atomic
model should be modified in a similar way. If electromagnetic energy is quantized, i.e. restricted

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to take on only integer values of hυ, where υ is the frequency of light, then it seemed reasonable
that the mechanical energy associated with the energy of atomic electrons is also quantized.

However, Bohr's still somewhat vague ideas were not well received by Thomson, and Bohr
decided to move from Cambridge after his first year to a place where his concepts
about quantization of electronic motion in atoms would meet less opposition. He chose the
University of Manchester, where the chair of physics was held by Ernest Rutherford. While in
Manchester, Bohr learned about the nuclear model of the atom proposed by Rutherford. To
overcome the difficulty associated with the classical collapse of the electron into the nucleus,
Bohr proposed that the orbiting electron could only exist in certain special states of motion -
called stationary states, in which no electromagnetic radiation was emitted. In these states, the
angular momentum of the electron L takes on integer values of Planck's constant divided by 2π,
𝐡
denoted by ħ = (pronounced h-bar). In these stationary states, the electron angular
𝟐𝛑
momentum can take on values ħ, 2ħ, 3ħ... but never non-integer values. This is known
as quantization of angular momentum, and was one of Bohr's key hypotheses.

𝐡 𝐡
He imagined the atom as consisting of electron waves of wavelength λ = = 𝐩 endlessly
𝐦𝐯
circling atomic nuclei. In his picture, only orbits with circumferences corresponding to an
integral multiple of electron wavelengths could survive without destructive interference (i.e.,
𝐧ћ
r= could survive without destructive interference). For circular orbits, the position vector of
𝐦𝐯
the electron r is always perpendicular to its linear momentum p. The angular momentum L has
magnitude mvr in this case. Thus Bohr's postulate of quantized angular momentum is equivalent
to mvr = nħ where n is a positive integer called principal quantum number. It tells us what
energy level the electron occupies.

𝐡 𝐡
Since λ = = 𝐩 (de Broglie relation),
𝐦𝐯

𝐡𝐯𝐩
p vp = = hυ = ћω
𝛌

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 𝐡
where ħ = is the reduced Planck constant, ω is the angular frequency, and vp is the phase
𝟐𝛑
velocity.

ћ𝐯
p vp =
𝐫

Since nћ = pr (quantization of angular momentum),

v = n vp

The velocity of the electron or the group velocity of the corresponding matter wave associated
with the electron is the integral multiple of the phase velocity of the corresponding matter wave
associated with the electron.

Since n is a positive integer > 0,

v ≥ vp

By the de Broglie hypothesis, we see that

𝐩𝐯𝐩 𝐡𝛖
=
𝛌 𝛌
𝐩𝐯 𝐡𝛖
=
𝐧𝛌 𝛌
Substituting nλ = 2πr,

𝐦𝐯 𝟐 𝐡𝛖
= 2π
𝐫 𝛌

The classical description of the nuclear atom is based upon the Coulomb attraction between the
positively charged nucleus and the negative electrons orbiting the nucleus. Furthermore, we
consider only circular orbits. The electron, with mass m and charge e− moves in a circular orbit

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of radius r with constant velocity v. The attractive Coulomb force provides the necessary
acceleration to maintain orbital motion. (Note we neglect the motion of the nucleus since its
mass is much greater than the electron.) The total force on the electron is thus

𝐙𝐞𝟐 𝐦𝐯𝟐
F= =
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫 𝟐 r
𝑭
where ε0 = 8.854 ×10−12 is the permittivity of free space.
𝒎

𝐡𝛖 𝐡𝛖
F = 2π i.e., F >
𝛌 𝛌

𝐙𝐞𝟐 𝐡𝛖
− = − 2πr
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫 𝛌
Substituting 2πr = nλ,

𝐙𝐞𝟐
− = − n hυ
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫
The potential energy of the electron is just given by the Coulomb potential:

𝐙𝐞𝟐
U=− = − n hυ
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫

U = − n hυ

The potential energy of the electron is the integral multiple of − hυ. The negative sign indicates
that it takes energy to pull the orbiting electron away from the nucleus.

Since n is a positive integer > 0,

U ≥ hυ

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From the equation:
𝟏
K = mv2
𝟐
we can determine the kinetic energy of the electron (neglecting relativistic effects)
pv
K=
2
𝐧ћ
Substituting p = ,
𝐫
nћv nћω
K=
2r = 2

nhυ
K=
2

𝐡𝛖
The kinetic energy of the electron is the integral multiple of .
𝟐

Since n is a positive integer > 0,

hυ
K≥
2
The total energy E = K + U is thus

nhυ
E= + (−nhυ )
2
nhυ
E=−
2

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The total energy of the electron is the integral multiple of −
𝐡𝛖. The frequency of radiation
𝟐
absorbed or emitted when transition occurs between two stationary states that differ in energy by
∆E, is given by:

∆E E2 − E1
υphoton = =
h h

where E1 and E2 are the energies of the lower and higher allowed energy states respectively. This
expression is commonly known as Bohr's frequency rule.

n hυ n hυ
– 2 2 2 – (– 1 2 1 )
υphoton =
h

n1υ1 – n2υ2 = 2υphoton

In physics (specifically, celestial mechanics), escape velocity is the minimum speed needed for
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an electron to escape from the electrostatic influence of a nucleus. If the kinetic energy mv2
2

𝐙𝐞𝟐
of the electron is equal in magnitude to the potential energy 𝟒𝛑𝛆 𝐫, then electron could escape
𝟎
from the electrostatic field of a nucleus.

1 𝐙𝐞𝟐
mv =2
= nhυ
2 𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫

2nhυ
v = vescape = √
m

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 mv2 Ze2
=
r 4πε0 r2

2
Ze2
mω r =
4πε0 r2

2π e2 Z
( ) = 2
×
T 4πε0 m r3

2π Z
( ) 2 = re c2 ×
T r3

where re denote the Classical electron radius

2
r3
T ∝
Z

"The very nature of the quantum theory ... forces us to regard the space-time coordination and the
claim of causality, the union of which characterizes the classical theories, as complementary but
exclusive features of the description, symbolizing the idealization of observation and description,
respectively."

― Niels Bohr

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 Bohr and Margrethe Norlund on their engagement in 1910

1927 Solvay Conference in Brussels, October 1927. Bohr is on the right in the middle row, next to Max Born

9
 Werner Heisenberg (left)
with Bohr at the Copenhagen
Conference in 1934

Bohr with James Franck, Albert Einstein and Isidor Isaac Rabi

10
Niels Bohr (left) – Danish theoretical physicist and winner of the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics – along with his son

Aage Bohr (center) – nuclear physicist and winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics – and his grandson Tomas

Bohr (bottom)

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Total energy of the electron:

nhυ
E=− 2

E nυ
mc 2 = − 2υc

mc2
υc = is the Compton frequency of the electron.
h

Orbital velocity:

mv2 Ze2
=
r 4πε0 r2

Ze2 nhυ
v = 4πε rm = √
√
0 m

Ze2 Z ×Classical electron radius

v = √4πε rm = c √
0 r

The moment of inertia of an electron in nth orbit is:

I = n × mr2

Since:

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 L = nħ

Therefore:
L
I= × mr2
ħ

L2 r L2
I= =
ħv ħω

The acceleration of the electron:

v2
a= =ω×v
r

2π nhυ
a= √
T m

Ze2
F=
4πε0 r2

Since:

e2
Fine structure constant (𝛂) =
4πε0 ħc

Therefore:
ħc hc
F=𝛂×Z× 2
= 𝛂×Z×
r 2 × Area of circular orbit

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Quantum circulation:
h
Q0 =
2m

Since:
nh
mvr =
2π

Therefore:
nQ0 2Q0
v= =
πr λ

v nQ0
ω= =
r Area of circular orbit

References:

 Particle or Wave: The Evolution of the Concept of Matter in Modern Physics By Charis
Anastopoulos.
 Quantum Mechanics for Chemists by David Oldham Hayward.
 Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom: The Bohr Model of Atomic Structure 1913−1925 by
Helge Kragh.
 Understanding Physics by David C. Cassidy.

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