Cardona, Princess Ayeka A.

GAS Arts & Design 2

December 18, 2017

Bohr’s Model

Electrons move in circular orbits that are at fixed distances from the nucleus. Light is emitted when
excited electrons, n>1n>1n, is greater than, 1, relax back to a lower energy level. Image credit: from
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Niels Bohr, a Danish scientist, explained this line spectrum while developing a model for the
atom:

The Bohr model works well for very simple atoms such as hydrogen (which has 1 electron) but
not for more complex atoms. Although the Bohr model is still used today, especially in
elementary textbooks, a more sophisticated (and complex) model — the quantum mechanical
model — is used much more frequently.

Bohr derived an equation that correctly predicted the various energy levels in the hydrogen atom,
which corresponded directly to the emission lines in the hydrogen spectrum. Bohr's model was
also successful at predicting the energy levels in other one-electron systems, such
as \text{He}^+He+H, e, start superscript, plus, end superscript. However, it failed to explain the
electronic structure in atoms that contained more than one electron.

The Bohr model shows that the electrons in atoms are in orbits of differing energy around the
nucleus (think of planets orbiting around the sun).
Bohr used the term energy levels (or shells) to describe these orbits of differing energy. He said
that the energy of an electron is quantized, meaning electrons can have one energy level or
another but nothing in between.

The energy level an electron normally occupies is called its ground state. But it can move to a
higher-energy, less-stable level, or shell, by absorbing energy. This higher-energy, less-stable
state is called the electron’s excited state.

After its done being excited, the electron can return to its original ground state by releasing the
energy it has absorbed, as shown in the diagram below.

Sometimes the energy released by electrons occupies the portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum (the range of wavelengths of energy) that humans detect as visible light. Slight
variations in the amount of the energy are seen as light of different colors.

Bohr found that the closer an electron is to the nucleus, the less energy it needs, but the farther
away it is, the more energy it needs. So Bohr numbered the electron’s energy levels. The higher
the energy-level number, the farther away the electron is from the nucleus — and the higher the
energy.

Bohr also found that the various energy levels can hold differing numbers of electrons: energy
level 1 may hold up to 2 electrons; energy level 2 may hold up to 8 electrons, and so on.

Importance:
The Bohr Model of the atom, introduced in 1913 by Niels Bohr, is extremely important. The
Bohr model showed us a great deal more information on the atom and describes it in better detail
for us to understand more clearly. The Bohr Model explains to us that electrons or negative
charges orbit around the atom's nucleus in energy levels. It also describes that electrons can
change energy levels. For example, an electron could change from a high energy level to a lower
one. The Bohr Model also opened the door to most of the knowledge we have about chemistry
and physics and without it, most of our knowledge on chemistry would not exist. Finally, the
Bohr Model opened up the door to quantum mechanics, which states electrons are subdivided
into discrete amounts.

A model is useful because it helps you understand what’s observed in nature. It’s not unusual to
have more than one model represent and help people understand a particular topic.

References:
http://www.dummies.com/education/science/chemistry/atomic-structure-the-bohr-model/
https://period8nielsbohr.weebly.com/why-is-the-bohr-model-of-the-atom-important.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/quantum-physics/quantum-numbers-and-
orbitals/a/the-quantum-mechanical-model-of-the-atom