Video Transcript
In this video, weโll be talking
about the Bohr model of the atom. The Bohr model is a simplified
description of the atom which describes electrons as occupying circular orbits
around the nucleus in much the same way that planets orbit the sun. In this video, weโll be talking
about why the Bohr model is useful in physics and looking at some of the equations
that come from it. But first, letโs have a quick
history lesson.
The Bohr model describes atoms as
small, dense, and positively charged nuclei surrounded by negatively charged
electrons which orbit in a circular path. This way of describing the atom was
first presented by the physicists Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913. In fact, its full name is the
RutherfordโBohr model. But unfortunately for Rutherford,
this isnโt as catchy. And today, itโs mostly referred to
as the Bohr model.
Physicists developed models as ways
of explaining physical systems. They then test these models using
experiments. And if experimental evidence
disproves the model, then we need to either change the model or develop a completely
new one that can explain the experimental result. The Bohr model of the atom is one
such model.
Prior to the development of the
Bohr model, physicists used a cubic model for atoms consisting of a positively
charged cube with negatively charged electrons at the corners. This model was later replaced by
the so-called plum pudding model, which described atoms as balls of positively
charged material with little electron plums embedded in them. However while this model does sound
tasty, experimental results at the time forced physicists to reconsider it.
In the following years, a few more
models for the atom were developed each one improving on the last until, eventually,
the Bohr model was developed. Since then, new physical evidence
has forced us to change our description of the atom further. And today physicists use a quantum
mechanical model which describes electrons using statistics. So, we know today that the Bohr
model is really a simplification of how atoms behave.
However, development of the model
was incredibly influential and useful to scientists at the time. In fact, itโs still useful to us as
a first-order approximation of how atoms behave, in particular, when they only have
one electron. So letโs take a closer look at how
the Bohr model works and how we can use it to make predictions about how atoms
behave.
In the Bohr model, because the
nucleus is positively charged and the electrons are negatively charged, the
electrons experience an electrostatic attraction toward the nucleus. And itโs this electrostatic force
which causes the electrons to orbit the nucleus. This is similar to how the
attractive gravitational force between the Earth and the Sun causes the Earth to
orbit the Sun.
Now, some earlier models of the
atom actually treated electrons in this way, too. But the Bohr model makes one
important additional claim. It theorizes that the angular
momentum of an orbiting electron is quantized; that is, it can only take certain
values. Specifically, the Bohr model says
that electrons can only have angular momentum equal to a whole number multiple of a
constant, known as the reduced Planck constant.
This idea is summed up by this
equation, where the uppercase ๐ฟ represents the angular momentum of an electron,
which we usually express in units of kilogram meter squared per second. ๐ represents the electronโs
principal quantum number, which denotes its energy level. And this symbol represents the
reduced Planck constant. The symbol that weโre using here is
just a lowercase โ with a bar through it, and we call this โ bar.
As we might guess, the reduced
Planck constant is closely related to the ordinary Planckโs constant, which we
represent with a lowercase โ. In fact, the reduced Planck
constant, โ bar, is exactly equal to Planckโs constant โ divided by two ๐. So if we wanted to, we could
rewrite this equation like this, with the ordinary Planckโs constant divided by two
๐. However, this factor of โ over two
๐ crops up in so many different physical equations that itโs easier to just write โ
bar as a shortcut.
The reduced Planck constant has a
value of 1.05 times 10 to the power of negative 34, and the units are the same as
that of the normal Planckโs constant, which we usually express as joule seconds. Itโs worth noting that joule
seconds are actually equivalent to kilogram meter squared per second. And because the principal quantum
number is dimensionless โ that is, itโs just a number without any units โ this means
that the units on the left of the equation match the units on the right of the
equation.
This simple equation is the
fundamental basis of the Bohr model, and it makes it incredibly easy to work out the
angular momentum of an electron in an atom. But one really important thing to
note here is that the limitations of the Bohr model mean that itโs only really
accurate for atoms with one electron, which is why we only really talk about the
Bohr model in the context of hydrogen atoms, which just have one proton and one
electron. So to calculate the angular
momentum of an electron in a hydrogen atom using the Bohr model, all we need to do
is multiply the principal quantum number of that electron by the reduced Planck
constant.
Because the lowest possible value
of the principal quantum number is one, this means that the lowest possible amount
of angular momentum that an electron in an atom can have is given by one times the
reduced Planck constant. In other words, itโs equal to โ bar
or 1.05 times 10 to the negative 34 joule seconds. We could call this amount of
angular momentum ๐ฟ sub one to signify that itโs the angular momentum of an electron
in the lowest possible energy level. That is, it has principal quantum
number one.
The next highest energy level is
denoted by a principal quantum number of two. And the equation on the left tells
us that the angular momentum of an electron in this energy level, which we could
call ๐ฟ two, is given by two times โ bar. And two times โ bar is equal to
2.10 times 10 to the power of negative 34 joule seconds. So we can use this type of
calculation to determine the angular momentum of an electron in a hydrogen atom.
In the Bohr model, the quantization
of the angular momentum leads to another really useful equation. This equation enables us to
calculate the orbital radius โ that is, the radius of the circular path that the
electron follows around the nucleus โ of an electron in a given energy level of a
hydrogen atom. This equation looks like this. ๐ ๐ represents the orbital radius
of an electron in a given energy level of the hydrogen atom. So, for example, the orbital radius
of an electron in the lowest possible energy level of the hydrogen atom โ that is,
with principal quantum number equal to one โ this radius would be denoted by ๐
one. Because the orbital radius is a
distance, we measure it in meters.
On the right-hand side of the
equation, we can see some familiar symbols. ๐, once again, is the principal
quantum number, and โ bar is the reduced Planck constant. As we can see, there are loads of
other constants in this equation. ๐ e is the mass of an electron,
equal to 9.11 times 10 to the negative 31 kilograms. And ๐ e is the charge of an
electron given by negative 1.60 times 10 to the negative 19 coulombs. We also have a factor of four ๐ on
the top of this fraction. And finally, we have ๐ naught, the
permittivity of free space, which is equal to 8.85 times 10 to the negative 12
farads per meter.
Although there are clearly loads of
different quantities in this equation, there are actually only two variables, the
orbital radius and the principal quantum number. All of the other quantities in the
equation are constants. Now, if we group all of these
constants together, we can see that the orbital radius is simply given by a bunch of
physical constants multiplied by the principal quantum number squared.
So letโs say we want to work out
the orbital radius of an electron in the ๐ equals one energy level of a hydrogen
atom. Because weโre dealing with a case
where ๐ equals one, we would replace ๐ ๐ on the left side of the equation with ๐
one, and ๐ on the right side of the equation would take a value of one. One squared is, of course, just
one.
And all of these constants
multiplied by one just leaves us with this expression. This tells us the orbital radius of
an electron in the ๐-equals-one energy level of a hydrogen atom. In other words, itโs the orbital
radius of the lowest energy electron in the simplest atom. For this reason, itโs been given a
special name. We call it the Bohr radius. And this can be represented by the
symbol ๐ naught.
If we substitute in the values of
all of the constants in this equation, we can calculate that the Bohr radius has a
value of 5.29 times 10 to the power of negative 11 meters. If we look again at the equation
for the orbital radius of an electron in any energy level of a hydrogen atom, we can
see that this part of the equation is simply equal to ๐ naught, which means itโs
possible to write the equation like this. This makes it clearer that the
orbital radius of an electron in a hydrogen atom is proportional to the square of
that electronโs principal quantum number.
So here, we have two useful
equations which we can use to calculate the angular momentum and the orbital radius
of an electron in a hydrogen atom. Letโs have a go at putting these
equations to use.
In the Bohr model of the atom, what
is the magnitude of the angular momentum of an electron in a hydrogen atom for which
๐ equals two? Use a value of 1.05 times 10 to the
negative 34 joule seconds for the reduced Planck constant.
So in this question, weโre
considering a hydrogen atom, and weโve specifically been asked to use the Bohr model
of the atom. We can recall that a hydrogen atom
just has one proton in the nucleus and one electron and the Bohr model describes
atoms as consisting of electrons making circular orbits around the nucleus. So we can visualize this hydrogen
atom like this. Hereโs the nucleus, and hereโs an
electron making a circular path around it.
Letโs also recall that the Bohr
model actually only makes accurate predictions for single-electron systems, which is
why weโre being asked about hydrogen atom in this question. Weโre being asked to find the
angular momentum of an electron for which ๐ equals two. Letโs recall that ๐ is the
principal quantum number of an electron. And it describes the energy level
that the electron occupies. So an electron in the lowest
possible energy level would have ๐ equals one. And in the Bohr model, this would
refer to the innermost orbit around the nucleus.
In this question, weโre told that
our electron has ๐ equals two, which would mean, according to the Bohr model, our
electron occupies an orbit thatโs further away from the nucleus. The Bohr model gives us a simple
way of calculating the angular momentum of an electron in a hydrogen atom as long as
we know what its principal quantum number is. In other words, we can find its
angular momentum if we know which energy level itโs in.
This is given by the equation ๐ฟ
equals ๐โ bar, where ๐ฟ represents the angular momentum of an electron, ๐
represents the principal quantum number, and โ bar is the reduced Planck
constant. And weโre told in the question that
this constant takes a value of 1.05 times 10 to the power of negative 34 joule
seconds. We should note that even though
itโs more common to express angular momentum in units of kilograms meters squared
per second, these units are actually equivalent to the units of the reduced Planck
constant.
Since the principal quantum number
๐ is dimensionless, this means that the units on the left and the right of the
equation are equivalent. Since weโre looking to calculate
the angular momentum and angular momentum is already the subject of this equation,
all we need to do is multiply the principal quantum number of our electron by the
reduced Planck constant. This gives us an angular momentum
of two times 1.05 times 10 to the negative 34 joule seconds, which gives us a value
of 2.10 times 10 to the negative 34 joule seconds. And this is the final answer to the
question. In the Bohr model of the atom, the
magnitude of the angular momentum of an electron in a hydrogen atom for which ๐
equals two is 2.10 times 10 to the negative 34 joule seconds.
Now, letโs take a look at another
question.
Use the formula ๐ ๐ equals four
๐๐ naught โ bar squared ๐ squared over ๐ e ๐ e squared, where ๐ is the orbital
radius of an electron in energy level ๐ of a hydrogen atom, ๐ naught is the
permittivity of free space, โ bar is the reduced Planck constant, ๐ e is the mass
of the electron, and ๐ e is the charge of the electron, to calculate the orbital
radius of an electron that is in energy level ๐ equals two of a hydrogen atom. Use a value of 8.85 times 10 to the
negative 12 farads per meter for the permittivity of free space, 1.05 times 10 to
the negative 34 joule seconds for the reduced Planck constant, 9.11 times 10 to the
negative 31 kilograms for the rest mass of an electron, and negative 1.60 times 10
to the negative 19 coulombs for the charge of an electron. Give your answer to three
significant figures.
Okay, so this seems like a pretty
long question. But actually, all weโre being asked
to do is this bit: Calculate the orbital radius of an electron that is in energy
level ๐ equals two of a hydrogen atom. The rest of the question just tells
us how we can do this. So weโre told we can use this
formula. And this part of the question
defines what all the quantities in this formula are. And this last part of the question
tells us the values of the constants in the equation.
We can recall that this formula
which weโve been given is derived from the Bohr model of the atom, which describes
atoms as consisting of a positively charged nucleus with electrons making circular
orbits around it. Now, the Bohr model has some
limitations, but itโs still pretty accurate when describing systems with one
electron such as the hydrogen atom in this question.
Now, in this question, weโre told
that the electron occupies energy level ๐ equals two. We can recall that ๐ is the
principal quantum number of an electron in an atom. ๐ takes whole number values, which
describe the energy level that an electron has. The lowest value that ๐ can take
is one, which would describe an electron in the lowest possible energy state of an
atom. In the Bohr model, this would
describe an electron in the innermost orbital around the nucleus.
However, in this question, weโre
told that our electron is in energy level ๐ equals two, which means that the
electron occupies the next orbital out. The orbital radius of an electron
is simply the radius of the circular path that it follows around the nucleus. And as weโve been told in the
question, we can calculate the orbital radius of an electron using this
equation.
One interesting thing to note about
this equation is that it only actually contains two variables, the orbital radius
and the principal quantum number. This means that according to the
Bohr model, the orbital radius of an electron is proportional to the square of its
principal quantum number. Now, we want to calculate the
orbital radius of an electron in energy level ๐ equals two. In other words, weโre looking to
find ๐ two. To find this, we simply substitute
two in place of ๐ in this equation, which gives us four ๐๐ naught โ bar squared
two squared over ๐ e ๐ e squared, where weโve been told ๐ naught is the
permittivity of free space. โ bar is the reduced Planck
constant. ๐ e is the mass of an
electron. And ๐ e is the charge of an
electron.
Since weโre told the values of all
of these quantities in the question, all we need to do now is substitute these
values in and calculate the answer, which gives us this expression. And if we plug all of this into our
calculators, it gives us an answer of 2.10 times 10 to the power of negative 10
meters, which is equivalent to 0.210 nanometers. And this is the final answer to our
question. The orbital radius of an electron
in energy level ๐ equals two of a hydrogen atom is 0.210 nanometers.
Okay, now we can summarize the key
points that weโve looked at in this video. Weโve seen that the Bohr model
describes the atom as consisting of electrons moving in circular orbits around a
small, dense nucleus. According to the Bohr model, the
angular momentum of an electron orbiting an atom is quantized and proportional to
its principal quantum number ๐, which is given by the formula ๐ฟ equals ๐โ
bar. The Bohr model also tells us that
the orbital radius of an electron is proportional to the square of its principal
quantum number ๐, which is given by this equation. And finally, weโve seen that the
Bohr model accurately describes single-electron systems such as the hydrogen
atom. This is a summary of the Bohr model
of the atom.