Bohr/Nagaoka & the Solar System Model

By the year 1913, a Danish and a Japanese scientist, Neils Bohr and Hantaro Nagaoka, independently contributed to the eventual Quantum Mechanical atomic model by studying light emission spectra. Using the Rydberg constant, they determined that the electron would have sufficient kinetic energy to orbit the nucleus along well-defined paths. By using mathematics they were able to match up the frequency of light that was being admitted to the level at which the electron would rotate. This model is familiar to most people who have ever studied atomic theory or even seen a movie or show with scientists in it. Though inaccurate as to how it treats the electron’s actual behavior and positioning with in the atom, the Bohr/Nagaoka Model does have merit when teaching basic atomic structure and many atomic and periodic properties as it is easier to model the way that electrons can be accounted for. This model is often referred to as the solar system model since it models the electron orbiting the nucleus in much the same way that planets orbit the sun.

Next - Lewis & e^- Shells