Bohr's Model of the Hydrogen
Atom
Bohr proposed to modify Rutherford's planetary
model of the atom by making the following assumptions:
- Electrons can exist only in certain special
orbits about the central nucleus. The orbits are called stationary
orbits or stationary states. The possible orbits are those with
angular momenta that are multiples of Plank's
constant.
- The dynamic equilibrium of the system in the
stationary states is governed by Newtonian mechanics.
- Transitions between different stationary
states are accompanied by the emission or absorption of radiation
the frequency of which is given by the Planck formula,
h$\nu$
= $\Delta$E,
where $\nu$
is the frequency (called "f" up until now) and
$\Delta$E is
the difference in the energy between the two stationary
states.
The first assumption was made to eliminate the
problem of the electrons radiating due to the acceleration in their
circular orbits. This assumption was made ad hoc with no
justification other than the resulting model reproduced the results
of experiments. The second assumption stated that the kinematical
features of the model could be calculated with classical mechanics.
The third assumption was the most controversial because little was
known about how these transitions might occur.
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MultiMedia Physics
2000