BOHR`S MODEL OF AN ATOM

Person 1: Have you heard that Niels Bohr in 1913 proposed a new model of an atom
Person 2: What does this model propose?
Person 1: First, let’s understand the given example! Do you know what our solar system is?
Person 2: Definitely yes!
Person 1: It appears somewhat like this. The sun is stationary at the center while the planets
revolve around it.
Person 2: But have you noticed that the planets always revolved in fixed paths?
Person 1: We never find or see any planet jumping to a different path all of a sudden, right? They
always encircle the sun in defined paths.
Person 2: In a similar way, we have the atomic structure. The nucleus acts like the sun located at
the center. It first proposes that electrons revolve around the nucleus in specific orbits and these
orbits are associated with definite energies and are called shells or energy levels.
Person 1: These orbits or shells are represented by the letters K, L, M, N… or by the numbers n=
1, 2, 3, 4…. The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a particular orbit is
2n2 where ‘n’ is the number of orbits. Thus, the k shell would have 2 electrons, L shell-8
electrons, M shell- 18 electrons, N shell – 32 electrons, and so on.
Person 2: Very well said, but what does this model next propose?
Person 1: It next proposes that the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in
the outermost level is 8. And finally, it says that the orbit closest to the nucleus has minimum
energy and the orbit farthest has maximum energy.
Person 2: Well then, does an electron radiate energy by itself?
Person 1: Since electron move in a particular orbit, they do not radiate energy by themselves.
What happens instead is, when an atom absorbs energy, the electrons get excited and jump into
the next higher energy level. The electron can radiate energy and return to its original state or
drop down to the next energy level. Bohr’s model works well for simple atoms and is easy to
understand. It is one of the atomic structures still in use today, the other being the quantum
mechanical model.
Person 2: So in summary, In 1913 a Danish physicist Neils Bohr proposed an atomic model
known as Bohr’s atomic model. In an atom, the electrons revolve around the nucleus in definite
energy levels called orbits or shells. The maximum number of electrons that can be
accommodated in a particular orbit is 2n2. The maximum number of electrons that can be
accommodated in the outermost shell is 8. The orbit closest to the nucleus has minimum energy
and the orbit farthest has maximum energy. Electrons are excited to higher energy levels by
absorbing energy and returning to lower.