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A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral hydrogen atom contains a nucleus of a single positively charged proton and a single negatively charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. Atomic hydrogen constitutes about 75% of the baryonic mass of the universe. [1]
Bohr was able to derive the formula for the hydrogen spectrum using basic physics, the planetary model of the atom, and some very important new proposals. His first proposal is that only certain orbits are allowed: we say that the orbits of electrons in atoms are quantized.
These three postulates of the early quantum theory of the hydrogen atom allow us to derive not only the Rydberg formula, but also the value of the Rydberg constant and other important properties of the hydrogen atom such as its energy levels, its ionization energy, and the sizes of electron orbits.
The hydrogen atom consists of a single negatively charged electron that moves about a positively charged proton (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). In Bohr’s model, the electron is pulled around the proton in a perfectly circular orbit by an attractive Coulomb force.
Explain the atomic structure of hydrogen; Describe the postulates of the early quantum theory for the hydrogen atom; Summarize how Bohr’s quantum model of the hydrogen atom explains the radiation spectrum of atomic hydrogen
Bohr model of the hydrogen atom was the first atomic model to successfully explain the radiation spectra of atomic hydrogen. Niels Bohr introduced the atomic Hydrogen model in the year 1913. Bohr’s Model of the hydrogen atom attempts to plug in certain gaps as suggested by Rutherford’s model.
Historically, Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom is the very first model of atomic structure that correctly explained the radiation spectra of atomic hydrogen.
