Niels Bohr (1913): Danish physicist.

Bohrs Model:

In the Bohr Model (1913) the neutrons and protons occupy a dense central region called
the nucleus (nucleus contains most of the atoms mass), and the electrons orbit the
nucleus much like planets orbiting the Sun.

After Rutherfords discovery, Bohr proposed that electrons travel in definite orbits
around the nucleus.

Electrons could be found only in these circular pathways and have a certain amount of
energy to hold it in place.

Electron Energy Levels in the Bohr Model

energy levels = the possible electron orbits of an atom

ground state = exists when an atom is energetically stable
excited state = exists when electrons absorb energy, are moved to higher levels, and the
atom become energetically unstable

If an electron absorbed enough energy, it could jump up to another level, but it could
never be found between levels. Inevitably, the electron lost energy and fell back down
to a previous level, giving off the extra energy as a specific frequency of light.

Energy is gained when

moving to higher levels

n=3
-

n=2

e-

n=1

eee--

ee-

e-

ee-

Electron
releases energy
as it goes to a
lower level.

Bohrs work was the forerunner for the work of many other individuals who, by the 1930s
and 1940s, had modified Bohrs model into the quantum mechanical model.
Summary:
Our ideas about the nature of atoms have progressed over the last two centuries (and
continue to develop today).
John Dalton introduced a new form of the ancient Greek idea of atoms at the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
In 1897, J.J. Thomson discovered the electron and suggested the plum pudding model of the
atom.
In 1911, Rutherford suggested that electrons orbit the atomic nucleus like planets around the
Sun.
In 1914, Bohr modified Rutherfords model by introducing the idea of energy levels.
The wave mechanical model is the present day model of the atom. The atom is portrayed as
having a dense positive nucleus but instead of the electrons moving in fixed orbits around the
nucleus as suggested by the Bohr model; in the wave mechanical model the electrons have
distinct amount of energy moving in regions called orbitals.
Instead of moving in definite, fixed orbits around the nucleus as suggested in the Bohr model,
the wave mechanical model portrays electrons with distinct amounts of energy moving in
areas orbitals.
An orbital is described as a region in which an electron of a particular amount of energy is
most likely to be located.

This is the currently accepted model of the atom.