Bohr further modified the shell model to explain why atoms with a certain number of electrons are more stable than others even though they had more protons and electrons.Bohr argued that the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated for an orbit would be 2n2, where ‘n’ is the order of the orbit.Bohr’s model depends on quantum mechanics.The primary distinguishing factor is that electrons can occupy only certain well-defined orbits. The framework consisting of a little nucleus encompassed by circling electrons is similar to that of planets around the Sun.Here are some salient features of Bohr’s Atomic Theory: Many individuals also assert it as the Rutherford-Bohr Model because of the inspiration taken from the Rutherford Model. The basic feature of Bohr’s atomic theory is a positively charged nucleus around which the negatively charged electron orbits in a fixed path. The key features are described in the next section. Bohr’s atomic theory gives Bohr’s model for describing an atom. This was also the first time that an Atomic model was used to explain an experimental fact.īohr’s Atomic Theory is a pioneering advancement for both of these reasons. This was the first that the spectrum of an atom was given a theoretical basis. The energy emitted would have been the emission spectra, while the one absorbed in the absorption spectra. He then used a whole number, the quantum number ‘n’, to mark the orbits.įurthermore, Bohr described how electrons radiated energy when they jumped from a higher energy orbit to a lower energy orbit and absorbed energy when an electron transferred from a lower-energy state to a higher one. On that basis, Bohr opined that as energy was quantised, so can angular momentum be.
Still, he noticed that for a viable atomic model, he would have to incorporate some principles of the still-in-infancy Quantum Mechanics.īohr saw that the quantisation of energy as put forward by Max Planck had a fundamental constant, called the Planck’s constant, that had dimensions of angular momentum. Origin of Bohr’s Atomic Theoryīohr took the initiative by analysing the structure of an atom using the old-styled mechanics. Bohr’s atomic theory explained why atomic spectrums produce light of fixed frequencies on excitation. The theory assumes that energy is released as radiation when electrons leap to a lower-energy orbit. Electrons move around a core which is the nucleus, in closed orbits. In the quantum hypothesis, electrons can occupy certain energy states around the nucleus. Proposed by Neils Bohr in 1913, his atomic theory revolves around the structure of the hydrogen atom.