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| atomic_transitions_and_spectroscopy [2021/02/10 19:45] – [1.viii.3 Generalizations] admin | atomic_transitions_and_spectroscopy [2022/09/06 18:23] (current) – [1.viii.2 The Bohr Model of Hydrogen] admin |
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| It has to be said that Bohr's model was extremely bold, by which I mean that it would have seemed completely crazy to physicists at the time. Forget blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and de Broglie matter waves, which only require us to do a bit of fancy footwork about particles sometimes being waves and vice versa. Bohr is asking us to completely abandon Newton's laws and the laws of electromagnetism when it comes to electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms. If there is anything that indicated that a completely new theory of physics was needed it was the Bohr model of hydrogen. | It has to be said that Bohr's model was extremely bold, by which I mean that it would have seemed completely crazy to physicists at the time. Forget blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and de Broglie matter waves, which only require us to do a bit of fancy footwork about particles sometimes being waves and vice versa. Bohr is asking us to completely abandon Newton's laws and the laws of electromagnetism when it comes to electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms. If there is anything that indicated that a completely new theory of physics was needed it was the Bohr model of hydrogen. |
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| Bohr suggested that, as long as the electron stays in one of the stationary orbits then it does not emit or absorb any electromagnetic radiation. However, the electron may jump from a lower energy orbit $E_n$ to a higher energy orbit $E_n$, with $E_n > E_m$, by absorbing radiation with frequency $\nu$ that satisfies | Bohr suggested that, as long as the electron stays in one of the stationary orbits then it does not emit or absorb any electromagnetic radiation. However, the electron may jump from a lower energy orbit $E_m$ to a higher energy orbit $E_n$, with $E_n > E_m$, by absorbing radiation with frequency $\nu$ that satisfies |
| \[h\nu = E_n - E_m.\] | \[h\nu = E_n - E_m.\] |
| In other words, by absorbing a photon with energy $h\nu$. | In other words, by absorbing a photon with energy $h\nu$. |
| * For $m=1$, the atom drops into its ground state and emits ultraviolet radiation. This is called the //Lyman series// and has $h\nu_L = \mathcal{R}\left ( 1 - \frac{1}{n^2} \right )$. | * For $m=1$, the atom drops into its ground state and emits ultraviolet radiation. This is called the //Lyman series// and has $h\nu_L = \mathcal{R}\left ( 1 - \frac{1}{n^2} \right )$. |
| * For $m=2$, the atom drops into its first excited state and emits visible light. This is called the //Balmer Series// and has $h\nu_B = \mathcal{R} \left ( \frac{1}{4} - \frac{1}{n^2}\right )$. | * For $m=2$, the atom drops into its first excited state and emits visible light. This is called the //Balmer Series// and has $h\nu_B = \mathcal{R} \left ( \frac{1}{4} - \frac{1}{n^2}\right )$. |
| * For $m=3$, the atom drops into its second excited state and emits infra-red light. This is called the //Paschen Series// and has $h\nu_B = \mathcal{R} \left ( \frac{1}{9} - \frac{1}{n^2}\right )$. | * For $m=3$, the atom drops into its second excited state and emits infra-red light. This is called the //Paschen Series// and has $h\nu_P = \mathcal{R} \left ( \frac{1}{9} - \frac{1}{n^2}\right )$. |
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| Are you getting bored of this yet? Some of the other series with higher values of $m$ also have fancy names. I promise I will never make you remember these names for an exam. In an ideal world, we would just call them the "$m=1$ series", the "$m=2$ series", etc. I blame chemists for the fact that the fancy names have stuck around. They are the people who most often do experimental spectroscopy and they need to have complicated jargon to make it look like their subject is difficult. I often wonder if they actually understand the simple physics underlying the experiments they are doing. I am not posting this in public am I? Please don't tell your chemistry professors that I said any of that. | Are you getting bored of this yet? Some of the other series with higher values of $m$ also have fancy names. I promise I will never make you remember these names for an exam. In an ideal world, we would just call them the "$m=1$ series", the "$m=2$ series", etc. I blame chemists for the fact that the fancy names have stuck around. They are the people who most often do experimental spectroscopy and they need to have complicated jargon to make it look like their subject is difficult. I often wonder if they actually understand the simple physics underlying the experiments they are doing. I am not posting this in public am I? Please don't tell your chemistry professors that I said any of that. |