Bohr Model for the Hydrogen Atom

The model that successfully explained the hydrogen atom's spectral lines.

Bohr's Postulates

  • Electrons revolve around the nucleus only in certain fixed, allowed orbits (quantized energy levels)
  • Electrons do not radiate energy while in these stable orbits
  • Energy is absorbed or emitted only when an electron jumps between orbits
Note: Bohr's model successfully explained the line spectrum of hydrogen, but could not fully explain the spectra of multi-electron atoms.
Lesson 5 of 26
On This Page