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| The radiation emitted from gases held
at low pressure can only have certain energies. This
is because electrons can only occupy certain energy
levels around the nucleus and so the radiation (photons)
emitted when an electron moves between energy levels
can also only have certain energies. |
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Although unknown to Bohr, others
knew that the radiation emitted from gaseous atoms at low
pressure only took up discrete energy levels. Bohr explained
this right away by the transition of an electron between
two stationary states. Bohr's theory triumphed when he was
able to correctly predict the spectrum of visible light
emitted from hydrogen. Before this, Balmer had miraculously
managed to put together a formula which described the same
frequency spectrum but this was more an act of numerology – of
organising the raw data. This was a common theme of classical
physics – thousands of pages of data had been accumulated
on the properties of materials but the theories to explain
the observations were more often than not, empirical and
unsatisfactory. Bohr's result came from a physical theory
which described an electron orbiting a nucleus. Bohr won
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for this work. |
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922 - Niels
Henrik David Bohr »
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1925 - James
Franck »
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1925 - Gustav
Ludwig Hertz »
