Bohr Model of the Atom

B h was familiar
Bohr f ili with
ith the
th emission
i i spectrum
t off hydrogen.
h d
When light produced by a hydrogen source is passed
through a glass prism, it splits into discrete colors.

Each color in the spectrum corresponds

to a particular energy of radiation.
Since these radiations come form atoms of
hydrogen, Bohr argued that an atom can only
emit radiations of certain frequency.
He connected this to the model of the atom because
beca se an
electron in an orbit is in a particular state of energy.
Bohr came up with 4 postulates.
1. Electrons assume only certain
orbits around the nucleus.
These orbits are stable and are
called allowed" orbits.

2. Each orbit has an energy associated with it. For

example the orbit closest to the nucleus has an
energy E1, the next closest E2 and so on.

3. Light is emitted when an electron jumps from

a higher orbit to a lower orbit and absorbed
when it jumps from a lower to higher orbit.
gy and frequency
4. The energy q y of light
g emitted or absorbed is
given by the difference between the two orbit energies.
The allowed orbits are characterized n=2 n=3
b the
by th energy off the
th electron
l t in
i that
th t
orbit and are labeled n = 1, n = 2, n = n=1
3 and so on.
n = 1 corresponds
d to
t the
th lowest
l t
energy level E1 and is called the
ground state of the electron.
If an electron receives a specific amount of extra
energy from an external source such as heating
or bombardment, it can jump to a higher energy
level corresponding to n = 2, 3 and so on
corresponding to energies E2, E3 and so on.
The electron is then said to be excited.
An electron cannot stay in the excited state for long.
It returns to one of the lower levels by
throwing away
throwing away the extra energy in the
form of light photon.
 E4 E2 = h fg

E3 E2 = h fr E5 E2 = hfb

An electron in the excited state n = 3 has an energy E3.

If this electron now jumps to n = 2 corresponding to
an energy E2, it radiates the extra energy such that
E3 E2 = hfr
An electron jumping from n = 4 to n = 2
radiates the extra energy E4 E2 = hfg

An electron jjumping
p g from n = 5 to n = 2
radiates the extra energy E5 E2 = hfb
 E4 E2 = h fg

Balmer series
E3 E2 = h fr E5 E2 = hfb
Balmer series

Radiations emitted by electron transitions

from the higher excited states to the first
excited state (n = 2) belong to the Balmer
series of radiation.
Balmer series corresponds to the visible
light.
When electron transitions end on the ground
state orbital, they produce spectral lines in the
Lyman Series (Ultraviolet radiations)
When electron transitions end on the second
excited state's orbital, they produce spectral lines
in the Paschen Series( Infrared radiations)
B l
Balmer series
i for
f hydrogen
h d looks
l k like
lik thi
this.

The energy difference between two

level is called a quantum of energy.
The energy levels specified by n1, n2, n3 etc are
called the principal quantum numbers.
 Energy Level Diagram
Th lowest
The l t energy level
l l
-6.05 10-20 J n=6
is the ground state.
The higher states are excited states. n=5
8 7 10-20
-8.7 20 J

The electron in a hydrogen atom will

normally be in the ground state. -1.36 10-19 J n=4
Higher
Hi h temperature
t t or electrical
l ti l
discharge can give the electron -2.42 10-19 J n=3
sufficient energy to jump to higher
excited states
states.
The energy of an electron in the -5.44 10-19 J n=2
ground state is -2.18 10-18 J
The energy of an electron in the first
excited state state is -5.14 10-19 J
-2.18 10-18 J n=1
Which of these two energy values is greater?
 Energy Level Diagram

An electron will not stay in a -6.05 10-20 J n=6

higher excited state for long.
The electron jumps back to 8 7 10-20
-8.7 20 J n=5
lower level emitting a photon of
energy equal to the difference -1.36 10-19 J n=4
between the two levels.
The energy of a photon for a -2.42 10-19 J n=3
transition form n = 3 to n = 2 is:
-2.42 10-19
19 (-5.44
( 10-19
19) =

3.02 10-19 J -5.44 10-19 J n=2

This is the energy
gy of a red p
photon
Now find the energies of green,
blue and violet photon -2.18 10-18 J n=1
 Quantum Theory of Atom

Bohr's model ultimately needed revision because it failed to

explain the nature of atoms more complicated than hydrogen.
In 1921 Louis de Brogllie introduced the wave/particle
duality of matter which led to the quantum theory of atom.
de Broglie suggested that particles could sometimes behave
as waves and waves could sometimes behave as particles.
Particles have momentum (p), waves have wavelength
() and the two are related by the equation:
h
=
p
Classical physics had always assumed that precise
location and velocity of objects was always possible.
According
cco d g to Werner
e e Heisenberg,
e se be g, itt is
s impossible
poss b e to have
a e
precise information about the location and velocity
simultaneously about a particle such as an electron.
He suggested that the location of an electron
around the nucleus is a probability function.
Schrodinger introduced an equation that
determines the probability that an electron can be
located at a certain distance from the nucleus.
The location of an electron is specified by an orbital.
Each energy level specified by the principal
quantum numbers n1, n2, n3 and so on has sub
shells named s, p, d, f and so on.
Each sub shell has one or more orbitals.
Each orbital can hold two electrons.
An electron distribution sketch, representing a three
dimensional space around the nucleus where there is
greatest probability of finding an electron, is called an orbital.
Electron Configuration
W use o to
We t representt an orbital.
bit l
Each orbital o can hold 2 electrons.

n=1 o 1s There is 1 orbital for s sub shell.

shell
The s sub shell can hold 2 electrons
n=2 o 2s
o o o 2p There are 3 orbitals for a p sub shell
The p sub shell can hold 6 electrons
n=3 o 3s
o o o 3p
o o o o o 3d There are 5 orbitals in the d sub shell
The d sub shell can hold 10 electrons

3s, 3p, 3d
2s, 2p
p
1s
Wee can
ca summarize
su a e the
t e electron
e ect o d distribution
st but o as follows:
o o s
Main Energy Maximum Maximum number
energy level sublevels number of of electrons per
electrons main energy level.
n=1 s 2 2 1s2

n=2 s 2
p 6 8 2s22p6
n=3 s 2
p 6 3s23p63d10
d 10 18
Hydrogen with 1 electron in the s subshell
has the electronic configuration 1s1
1
Helium with 2 electrons in the s subshell
1s2
has the electronic configuration
Carbon with 6 electrons has 2 in n = 1 shell and
4 in n = 2 shell. Of these 4, 2 of them will be in
the s subshell and the other 2 in the p subshell. 1s22s22p
p2

Aluminum with 13 electrons

1s22s22p63s23p1
has the configuration:
Now write down the configurations of
the following elements on your own.
Sulfur of atomic number 16
Argon of atomic number 18
Calcium of atomic number 20
Quantum Energy Levels
The energy level diagram
using the quantum model
is lot more complex than
the one we saw in the
Bohr model.
There are many more
intermediate levels of
energy and there are
thousands of possibilities
for electronic transitions
between levels.
Whereas Bohr model
could only y explain
p
hydrogen atom with just
one electron, the
quantum model explains
all observed phenomena
for all elements.