MODERN PHYSICS
Chapter 4
THE CLASSICAL THEORY
OF THE ATOM
Doan Thi Hien
2025-2026
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 1 / 30
Content
1. Thomson’s Model of the Atom
2. Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
3. The Hydrogen Atom
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 2 / 30
Basics properties of the atom
Atom
✪ Proposed by the Greek philosopher Democritus around 400
BC “atomos”
✪ Meaning it is indivisible
✪ Very small, radius ∼0.1 nm
✪ Contains electrons with negative charge, but the atom is
electrically neutral charge
✪ Can emit and absorb electromagnetic radiation
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 3 / 30
Dalton’s atomic theory
In the early 1800s, Dalton proposed:
• All matter is composed of indivisible particles called ’atom’
• Atoms of the same elements are identical in shape and mass
• Atoms cannot be created or destroyed
• Atoms of different elements combine to form complex
compounds
• Atoms of the same elements can combine with each other
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 4 / 30
Dalton’s atomic theory
Limitations of Dalton’s Theory:
• Atoms can be divided
• An elements can have multiple isotopes (different numbers of
neutrons) → different masses
• Atoms can be created or destroyed by nuclear reactions
• Does not explain the internal structure or the existence of
charged particles
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 5 / 30
Thomson’s Model of the Atom
Thomson proposed:
• The atom is a spherical structure with
positive charge uniformly distributed
• Electrons with negative charge are
embedded uniformly within the sphere
• When the atom is heated, electrons
oscillate around there equilibrium Joseph John Thomson
positions → emit electromagnetic waves (1856-1940)
British physicist
Photo in 1915
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 6 / 30
Thomson’s Model of the Atom
Can explain:
• The electrical neutrality of the atom
• The origin of electrons
• The origin of the chemical properties of elements
Cannot explain:
• The atomic line spectra
• Radioactivity
• Rutherford’s experimental results
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 7 / 30
Millikan’s experiment
✫ Millikan oil-drop experiment
(1909-1910)
✮ Determined the charge of
the electron: 1, 60 × 10−19 C
✮ Determined the electron
mass : 9, 10 × 10−28 g
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 8 / 30
Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 9 / 30
Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
Rutherford’s deductions:
• Most alpha particles passed through the gold foil ⇒ the
interior of the atom is mostly empty space
• Large scattering angles ⇒ postive charges are concentrated at
the center forming the nucleus, which contain almost all the
atom’s mass
• Electrons, with negative charge equal to the positive charge,
move around the nucleus
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 10 / 30
Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 11 / 30
Rutherford’s Model of the Atom
Limitations of Rutherford’s Model:
✪ According to classical physics, an accelerating electron should
continuously emit electromagnetic radiation
✪ As a result, the electron would lose energy, spiral into the
nucleus, and the atom would collapse
✪ The model could not explain the stability of atoms or the
discrete line spectra observed in experiments
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 12 / 30
The Bohr Atom
Three postulates of Neils Bohr
Postulate 1: Stationary states
⋆ An atom can exist only in certain discrete states
with definite energies, called stationary states.
When the atom is in a stationary state:
♦ It does not emit radiation.
♦ Electrons move around the nucleus only in
Niels Henrik David Bohr
specific orbits with well-defined radii.
(1885 -1962)
These orbits are called stationary orbits.
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 13 / 30
The Bohr Atom
Postulate 2: The emission or absorption of
electromagnetic radiation
En3 − En2 = hf
Postulate 3: Quantization of angular
momentum
L = me vr = hℏ, (n= 1, 2, ...)
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 14 / 30
The Hydrogen atom
Bohr’s hypothesis states that the angular momentum of an
electron (L = me vr ) is quantized and equal to an integer multiple
of Planck’s constant.
L = mvr = nℏ
The radius of the electron’s orbit:
2
nℏ ke 2
m mr = r ⇒ rn = n 2 ℏ2
= n 2 a0
mke 2
The orbital radius is quantized
ℏ2
Bohr radius: a0 = mke 2
= 0, 0529nm
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 15 / 30
The Hydrogen atom
❖ From the orbital radius rn the energy levels of the hydrogen
atom can be calculated:
ke 2 1 13, 6
En = − 2
= − 2 (eV )
2a0 n n
❖ n is an integer called the principal quantum number
❖ The lowest stationary state is the ground state (n=1):
E1 = −13, 6eV
❖ The next state is called the first excited state (n = 2):
E2 = −3, 4eV
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 16 / 30
The Hydrogen atom (spectrum of hydrogen
▲ Ionization energy of the hydrogen atom, according to Bohr’s
calculations, is 13.6 eV ⇒ agrees with experimental values
▲ Energy of photon emission or absorption during an electron
transition between orbits n and m (n > m)
ke 2 1 1 1 1
E𝛾 = En − Em = 2a0 m2
− n2
= 13, 6 m2
− n2
(eV )
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 17 / 30
The Hydrogen spectrum
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 18 / 30
The spectrum
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 19 / 30
Balmer-Rydberg formula
Balmer-Rydberg formula:
1
𝜆 = RH 1
m2
− 1
n2
(m < n)
RH = 0, 011 nm−1 : The Rydberg constant (experimental value)
1 1
−→ E𝛾 = RH hc − (m < n)
m2 n2
According to Bohr:
ke 2 1 1 1 1
E𝛾 = − = 13, 6 − (eV )
2a0 m2 n2 m2 n2
ke 2 1
→ RH = = 0, 011nm−1
2a0 hc
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 20 / 30
The Hydrogen-like atom
Bohr extended his model for hydrogen-like atoms:
He + , Li 2+ , Be 3+ .
■ The radius of the electron’s orbit in the n-th state of an
atom with atomic number Z:
a0
rn = n2
Z
■ Energy of the atom in the n-th state:
2
2
ke Z
En = −
2a0 n
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 21 / 30
Emission Spectrum
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 22 / 30
Franck-Hertz experiment
The experiment was performed in 1914
The experiment provided convincing evidence that the electron
energy levels in an atom are quantized
Franck and Hert received the Nobel Prize in 1925
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 23 / 30
Discussion
1) Which atom binds an electron more strongly: H, He + or Li ++ ?
Explain.
2) Why cannot the Bohr model be applied for neutral He? What
difficulties would Bohr encountered to modify his model for He?
3) In Rutherford’s experiment, can alpha particles scatter at angles
greater than 90◦ result from scattering off a group of electrons
(e.g., 100 electrons) within a radius of 10−15 m?
4) Can a hydrogen atom absorb a photon with energy less than
13.6 eV? Describe!
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 24 / 30
Examples
Example 4.1
A hydrogen atom is initial at rest in the state n = 3. It then decays
to the ground state and emit a photon.
a) Calculate the wavelength of the emitted photon.
b) Calculate the recoil momentum of the atom.
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 25 / 30
Examples
Example 4.1
A hydrogen atom is initial at rest in the state n = 3. It then decays
to the ground state and emit a photon.
a) Calculate the wavelength of the emitted photon.
b) Calculate the recoil momentum of the atom.
Solution
a)
1 1 1
= RH 2 − 2 → 𝜆 = 102nm
𝜆 1 3
b)
h
p®𝛾 + p®nt = 0 → pnt = p𝛾 =
𝜆
→ pnt = 6, 45 · 10−27 kgm/s
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 25 / 30
Example
Example 4.2
A hydrogen atom is in the first excited state. Apply the Bohr’s
model to calculate:
a) The orbital radius of the electron in this state
b) The momentum of the electron
c) The angular momentum of the electron
d) The kinetic energy of the electron
e) The potential energy of the electron
f) The total energy of the electron
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 26 / 30
Example
Solution
a) r2 = 22 a0
r
ke 2
b) p = mv = m
mr2
c) L = nℏ = 2ℏ
ke 2
d) K=
2r2
ke 2
e) U=−
r2
ke 2
f) E =K +U =−
r2
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 27 / 30
Example
Example 4.3
Given that the limiting wavelength in the Paschen series is 𝜆0 = 820.1 nm, find
the three longest wavelengths in the Paschen series of the hydrogen atom.
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 28 / 30
Example
Example 4.3
Given that the limiting wavelength in the Paschen series is 𝜆0 = 820.1 nm, find
the three longest wavelengths in the Paschen series of the hydrogen atom.
Solution
1 1 1 R
= RH 2 − = H
𝜆0 3 ∞ 9
1 1 1
= RH 2 − 2 =
𝜆43 3 4
1 1 1
= RH 2 − 2 =
𝜆53 3 5
1 1 1
= RH 2 − 2 =
𝜆63 3 6
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 28 / 30
Successes of the Bohr model
The Bohr atomic model made several correct predictions:
★ The energy of the electron in the hydrogen atom is quantized:
13.6
En = − 2 eV
n
★ The lowest energy level corresponds to the ground state
(n = 1): E1 = −13.6 eV
★ 13.6 eV is the minimum energy required to completely remove
one electron from the hydrogen atom.
★ The Bohr radius r1 = a0 = 0.0529 nm agrees well with the
experimentally determined atomic size.
★ The radius of the nth orbit is given by rn = n2 a0 .
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 29 / 30
Limitations of the Bohr model
• Applicable only to single-electron atoms or ions (H, He + ,
Li ++ , ...)
• Fails to explain the fine structure of spectral lines
• Cannot explain how atoms bond together to form
molecules
Doan Thi Hien MODERN PHYSICS 2025-2026 30 / 30