Chapter 12: Atoms cbdhavale@god.

com
Syllabus : Alpha particle scattering: Schematic diagram of Geiger-Marsden experiment,
observations and conclusion - Rutherford’s model of an atom - Derivation of total
energy of electron in hydrogen atom in terms of orbit radius.
Atomic spectra: Spectral series of hydrogen - Mention of empirical formulae for
1/ (wave number) of different series.
Bohr model of hydrogen atom: Bohr’s postulates - Derivation of Bohr radius -
Derivation of energy of electron in stationary states of hydrogen atom - Line spectra of
hydrogen atom: Derivation of frequency of emitted radiation - Mention of expression
for Rydberg constant - Energy level diagram - de-Broglie’s explanation of Bohr’s
second postulate - Limitations of Bohr model, Numerical Problems.

The different theories explained the structure of the atom. They are
(1) Thomson’s atomic model.
(2) Rutherford’s nuclear model of atom.
(3) Bohr’s atomic model.
(4) Sommerfeld’s model.
(5) Vector atom model.
Here only Thomson’s, Rutherford’s & Bohr’s atomic models are discussed
Thomson’s atomic model.
According to Thomson an atom is a solid sphere in which the positive charge and mass
are equally distributed uniformly. Electrons are distributed uniformly throughout the atom
like plums in the pudding. Thomson’s model could explain the neutrality of the atom but
failed to explain the H- spectrum , Zeeman effect, large angle scattering of alpha
particles.Hence Thomson’s model was discarded.
Qn. Explain alpha particle scattering ( Geiger & Marsden’s experiment) & Rutherford’s
nuclear model of atom :
ANS .

At the suggestion of
Rutherford, Geiger &
Marsden performed the
experiment of scattering
of particles by gold
foil.
The beam of particles
was incident on thin gold
foil and the scattered
beam of particles was
made to fall on ZnS
screen for detection.
It was found that most of the particles scattered at small angles and few particles had
large ange of scattering . very few had scattering by 1800.

The large angle of scattering would be possible if & only if whole +ve charge of the gold
atom (Or any other atom) is concentrated at the centre which was called as nucleus by
Rutherford.
The nucleus was assumed to be immobile and the force between & gold nucleus was given
by Coulomb force as follows,

Where d is the distance of closest approach and z is the atomic no. of the gold nucleus.
Impact parameter : It is the perpendicular distance between the initial velocity vector and
centre of the nucleus. If the impact parameter is more the particle has low scattering
angle and if it is less then scattering angle increases .
Rutherford’s atomic model : The postulates of his model are as follows
1. The whole mass and +ve charge of the atom is concentrated at its centre called nucleus.
2. The atom is electrically neutral because total +ve charge is equal to total –ve charge.
3. The size of the nucleus is of the order of 10-15m.
4. The electrons revolve around the nucleus in the circular orbits.
5. The centripetal force for the electrons is provided by the electrostatic force between
the +ve nucleus and the –ve electron.

Qn. Derive an expression for the total energy of the electron using Rutherford’s atomic
model. Or derive the relation for radius of electron orbit and energy of electron.
Ans.

Consider an electron of charge –e, mass m

revolving around nucleus of H-atom (Z=1),
charge +e. Let be the speed of the
electron .
Acc. To Rutherford the centripetal force for +Ze -e
the electron is provided by the electrostatic r
force between the +ve nucleus and the –ve
electron , Thus,

.i.e

Thus KE is given by KE
And PE of the electron can be shown to be ,
PE= ( )
Thus total energy of the electron is ,

This is the expression for the total energy of the electron according to Rutherford model.
Here the –ve sign implies that electron is bound to the nucleus.

Atomic spectra :
When an atomic gas or vapour is excited at low pressure,the emitted radiation has a
spectrum containing bright lines. This spectrum is called emission line spectrum and it
consists of bright lines on a dark background. The spectrum emitted by atomic
hydrogen is shown in Fig. below. Study of emission line spectra of a material gives
information of the atom in a gas. When white light passes through a gas and we analyse
the transmitted light using a spectrometer we find some dark lines in the spectrum. These
dark lines
correspond precisely to those wavelengths which were found in the emission line spectrum of
the gas. This is called the line absorption spectrum of the material of the gas.

Qn. Write Bohr’s postulates of H atom (5m).

Ans. The postulates of Bohr’s atomic model are as follows
1. The whole mass and +ve charge of the atom is concentrated at its centre called nucleus.
2. The atom is electrically neutral because total +ve charge is equal to total –ve charge.
3. The size of the nucleus is of the order of 10-15m.
4. The electrons revolve around the nucleus in the circular orbits called stationary orbits in
which they do not radiate any energy in those orbits.
5. The centripetal force for the electrons is provided by the electrostatic force between
the +ve nucleus and the –ve electron.
6. Bohr’s quantization rule : The electrons revolve in those orbits in which their angular
momentum is integral multiple of .
.i.e where m=mass of e-, v=speed, r= radius of electron orbit.,
n=1,2,3,4,….. is an integer.& h – plank’s constant.
7. Bohr’s frequency condition : When an electron jumps from higher energy E2 to lower
enrgy E1, a photon is emitted whose frequency is given by,

Qn. Derive the expression for the radius of nth orbit of H atom and the velocity of the
electron in the nth orbit.
Answer.

Consider an electron of charge –e, mass m

revolving around nucleus of H-atom (Z=1) in
orbit of radius Let be the speed of
the electron .
According to Bohr the centripetal force for +Ze -e
the electron is provided by the electrostatic r
force between the +ve nucleus and the –ve
electron , Thus,

.i.e

According to Bohr’s quantization rule,

Squaring (2) on both the sides we get,

Eq (3) by Eq. (2) gives,

For H atom hence,

This is the expression for the radius of the nth electron orbit.
Now dividing eq. (1) by (2) we get,

For H atom, ,hence

This is the expression for the velocity of the electron revolving in the nth orbit of H atom.

Qn. Derive the expression for the total energy of the electron revolving in the
nth orbit of H atom.
Answer.

Consider an electron of charge –e, mass m

revolving around nucleus of H-atom (Z=1) in
orbit of radius Let be the speed of
the electron .
The electron has two energies namely PE due
+Ze -e
to electrostatic field and KE due to the
motion of the electron. r
Now PE is given by,

According to Bohr the centripetal force for the electron is provided by the electrostatic
force between the +ve nucleus and the –ve electron , Thus,
 Now KE of the electron is given by,

Total energy is the sum of PE and KE

.i.e Total energy

.i.e

[ ]

[ ]

since

For H atom, ,hence

This is the expression for the energy of the electron in the nth orbit. Here –ve sign implies
that electron is bound to the nucleus.

Note :
1. The radii of electron orbit are in the ratio 1:4:9:16:…..:n2 . since (.i.e orbits
are not spaced equally)
2. The radius of first orbit of H atom is called Bohr radius and its value is ̇.
3. The velocity of the electron is inversely proportional to orbit no. .i.e .
Thus electrons in the outer orbits revolve slower than those in the inner orbits.
Energy of the electron in the nth orbit of H like atom (containing one electron ) is given

by, eV.and for H atom …eV.

 Qn. Derive an expression for the wave number ̅̅̅ and wavelength of the
spectral line emitted by H atom.
Answer. When energy is given to the H atom it absorbs discrete amounts of energy and
electrons are excited to different higher levels. Now when electron jumps to the lower
energy state it emits a photon. The energy of the photon is equal to the difference in the
energies of the two orbits of e-1 orbits.
Let an electron jump from higher state of energy to lower state of energy . Let
a photon of wave no. ̅̅̅ and wavelength . The energy of the photon is given by,

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

But ̅̅̅ is called wave number. And wave number is defined as the number of waves
present in 1m. length of the medium.
Now for H atom (Z=1) and ̅̅̅ eqn. 1 becomes

̅̅̅ [ ]

Further is called Rydberg’s constant. Thus (2) can be

written as ̅̅̅ [ ]

Qn. Write a note on Spectral series of H atom using Bohr’s theory.

Ans. When an hydrogen atom is excited its electron jumps from lower energy state to the
higher energy state. When the electron jumps to the lower energy state it emits a photon
whose energy and depends on the energy of the levels. The H spectrum was studied by
Balmer, Paschen and they gave the same empirical formula similar to that of Bohr’s
theoretical formula.
The wave no. ̅̅̅ is given by , ̅̅̅ [ ]
Based on the wavelength the spectral series of H atom is classified as follows,
1. Lyman series : When the excited electron jumps from any higher energy state to the
first orbit the spectral series is called Lyman series. Thus for this series,
 These spectral lines fall in the UV region. And series limit (shortest wavelength) is
obtained by taking for all the regions.
2. Balmer series : When the excited electron jumps from any higher energy state to the
second orbit the spectral series is called Balmer series. Thus for this series,

These spectral lines fall in the visible region & they are named as and so on.
3. Paschen series : When the excited electron jumps from any higher energy state to the
third orbit the spectral series is called Paschen series. Thus for this series,

These spectral lines fall in the infrared (IR) region.

4. Brackett series : When the excited electron jumps from any higher energy state to the
fourth orbit the spectral series is called Brackett series. Thus for this series,

These spectral lines fall in the far IR region.

5. Pfund series : When the excited electron jumps from any higher energy state to the
fifth orbit the spectral series is called Pfund series. Thus for this series,
. These spectral lines fall in the far IR region.
Qn. Write a note on line spectra of
Hydrogen atom & draw energy level
diagram.
Ans.
According to Bohr when the
electron jumps from higher
energy state to the lower
energy state it emits a photon
whose energy is equal to the
difference between the two
states. The wavelength of the
emitted line is

̅̅̅ [ ]
Even the empirical given by
Balmer & others was similar to
that of Bohr’s formula and it is
given by

̅̅̅ [ ]
Rydberg constant,
Thus by substituting the values of all the constants Bohr got which
almost equal to the value obtained by Balmer formula as .
For H atom the energy of an electron in an orbit is,

The energies of electron in different orbits are

thus energies are quantized.
Thus in energy level diagram of H atom various horizontal lines represent the quantized
energies and levels. The vertical lines represent the possible transitions corresponding to a
spectral series like Lyman, Balmer, Paschen, Brackett, Pfund etc.

Qn. How did De Broglie explained the Bohr’s second postulate of quantization (of
momentum ).
Ans. According to Bohr’s postulate the electrons revolve in those orbits in which their
angular momentum is integral multiple of .i.e the angular momentum is quantized.
This postulate was successfully explained by de Broglie. De Broglie said electrons travel in
the form of waves & form of stationary waves like those in the stretched string.
Thus for an electron revolving in the nth orbit of radius , the circumference is and
no. of stationary waves are produced.
.i.e.
If is the speed of the electron then its de Broglie wavelength is
Substituting in (1) we get,

.i.e
This equation obtained by de Broglie is similar to that obtained by Bohr. Hence Bohr’s
Postulate is correct.
Qn. Write the demerits (limitations) of Bohr’s theory.
Ans. The demerits (limitations) of Bohr’s theory are as follows ;
1. The Bohr model is applicable only for Hydrogen and hydrogen like atoms ( He & Li )
2. When the theory was applied to the He & Li atoms there was some discrepancy in the
measured and theoretical value of wavelengths of spectral lines.
3. In Bohr’s theory the force between electrons is not considered but only the force
between the nucleus & electron is considered.
4. Bohr’s theory couldn’t explain why intensities of the spectral lines are different at
different temperature of the source.
5. The theory couldn’t explain Zeeman effect and Stark effect.
6. The theory couldn’t explain the fine structure of spectral lines (doublets & triplets )

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