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CED objectives

The Bohr Model of Atomic Structure

▶︎  Watch it animatedinteractive step-through · ~3 min · optional ⚙︎  Open the appletOrbit Bench · drag the radius through a continuum and find the few settings where the electron wave closes on itself

The Bohr model allows only certain orbits with only certain energies, so an electron in an allowed state radiates nothing and a transition is a jump between two states rather than a drift through the space between them. For hydrogen the radius grows as $r_n = n^2 \times 0.053$ nm while the energy is $E_n = -13.6/n^2$ eV, so higher levels sit farther out and more weakly bound, crowding toward zero as $n$ climbs. The quantization follows from requiring the electron's de Broglie wave to close on itself, $n\lambda = 2\pi r$, working alongside the condition that the electric force supplies the centripetal force.

Three errors dominate. Running the planetary picture past the point the model supports, so the electron takes any radius or spirals between levels radiating continuously. Interchanging the $n^2$ dependence of the radius with the $1/n^2$ dependence of the energy, which inverts every downstream comparison. And missing that an allowed orbit is one whose circumference holds a whole number of de Broglie wavelengths, which leaves quantization as an unexplained assertion and gives the atom no reason to have a lowest state.

a list of states, and a jump between two of them 0 eV, ionized n = 4, −0.85 n = 3, −1.51 n = 2, −3.40 n = 1, −13.6 (lowest) one photon: E₃ − E₂ the levels crowd toward 0 as n climbs, which is the series limit in a spectrum n = 3 n = 2 NOT this: a spiral through the gap, radiating continuously on the way down there is no allowed state in the gap for anything to radiate from
The left panel is the part of the model that keeps working. The right panel is the planetary picture pushed one step past where it stops supporting anything.
an allowed orbit is one the wave closes on nλ = 2πr: it CLOSES this radius is allowed a fractional fit: it does NOT close it cancels against itself on the next trip round
The same reason a fixed string sounds only certain notes. The boundary requires the wave to fit, and only some radii let it.

The work

3 ways in · any order
Lesson
The Bohr Model of Atomic Structure

Stops the planetary picture where the model does, anchors the radius and energy ladders at n = 1 so their scalings stay apart, and derives the allowed levels from a standing-wave closure condition.

Skill check · 10 scenarios
Diagnostic
10-item topic check

Ten items spanning the failure modes of this topic: spiralling between levels or taking any radius, swapping the n squared and one over n squared dependences, and treating quantization as an unexplained assertion. Take it cold to find which one is yours, or after the lesson to confirm it is not.

Not started · 10 items · ~15 min
Targeted Practice
Drill a single misconception

Pick one of the failure modes you missed and drill it on its own. The round is adaptive: two correct in a row clears it for now and moves you to the next. Two in a row is a checkpoint, not proof: if the error resurfaces later, the misconception comes back.

Take the diagnostic to identify your misconceptions