according to the bohr model of the hydrogen atom, what is the closest an electron can get to the nucleus? What is the farthest it can get from the nucleus? ( if the latter answer seems absurb, it might amuse you to know that it is the same value predicted by present-day quantum chemistry)
I am having a hard time to answer this please someone help. I search for th answer but I can't find it in my book
The closest is n = 1 shell.
The farthest is infinity.
Thank you. So my teacher want it in nm so how do I calculate or find it in nm?
To answer this question, let's first understand the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom. The Bohr model was proposed by Niels Bohr in 1913 to explain the behavior of electrons in atoms.
According to the Bohr model, electrons in atoms occupy certain energy levels or shells, which are represented by whole-number values (n = 1, 2, 3, ...). These energy levels are located at specific distances from the nucleus.
The closest an electron can get to the nucleus in the Bohr model is when it occupies the first energy level (n = 1). This energy level is also called the ground state. In the ground state, the electron is at the minimum possible distance from the nucleus, which is about 0.0529 nanometers (or 0.529 Å).
The farthest an electron can get from the nucleus is theoretically infinite. According to the Bohr model, when an electron absorbs energy, it can move to a higher energy level (e.g., n = 2, 3, 4, etc.). The distance between the electron and the nucleus increases as the energy level increases. In theory, there is no limit to the number of energy levels an electron can occupy in the Bohr model, so the distance between the electron and the nucleus can increase indefinitely.
However, the idea that the farthest an electron can get from the nucleus is infinite, as predicted by the Bohr model, is not correct according to present-day quantum chemistry. In quantum mechanics, which provides a more accurate description of atoms, the electron's behavior is described by wave functions and probability distributions rather than well-defined orbits. The concept of a specific distance from the nucleus becomes more complex, and the distribution of the electron's location becomes spread out, with higher probabilities of finding the electron in certain regions around the nucleus.
In summary, according to the Bohr model, the closest an electron can get to the nucleus is about 0.0529 nanometers. However, in modern quantum chemistry, the electron's behavior is described differently, and the notion of a fixed distance between the electron and the nucleus becomes more probabilistic and spread out.