Chemistry › Section F · Electronic structure and periodic properties › Topic F.2
The Bohr model
Hydrogen gives off light at only a handful of sharp wavelengths, and for decades nobody could say why. In 1913 Niels Bohr explained them by proposing that the electron in a hydrogen atom can have only certain energies, an idea that turned a list of numbers into the first working model of atomic structure.
In this topic
- A pattern in hydrogen's lines
- Why the planetary model failed
- Bohr's postulates
- The energy levels of hydrogen
- Jumps between levels
- Worked example: hydrogen's violet line
- Spectral series
- Worked example: exciting and ionising hydrogen
- One-electron ions
- What Bohr got right, and wrong
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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