Bohr's Atomic Model

Hi, everyone,

As we have discussed in class, Bohr came up with his model of the atom through experimentation.

Through his experiments, he found that atoms only absorb certain wavelengths of light (i.e. certain energy). This gives evidence that electrons can only occupy certain energy levels (which we now call shells). The energy carried by light of these wavelengths corresponds to the energy gap between the shells.

Should there not be shells (discrete energy levels), any wavelength of light would be absorbed by the atom to excite its electron to any energy state.

Here's a video which I think is rather useful. It talks about the emission spectrum, which shows that light emitted by excited atoms (i.e. atoms with their electrons promoted to higher energy shells) are also of particular wavelength and expectedly, this energy corresponds to the gap between the shells.

Enjoy!



For the learners who prefer reading, this website is also quite simple to understand.