Q.Describe the two shortcomings of Bohr model of atom.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The Bohr model works only for hydrogen-like atoms and cannot explain spectral fine structure/intensities (among other failures).
The Bohr model of the atom, though successful in explaining the hydrogen spectrum, has several shortcomings. Two important ones are:
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It applies only to single-electron (hydrogen-like) atoms. Bohr's theory correctly predicts the spectrum of hydrogen and hydrogen-like ions (He⁺, Li²⁺), but it fails for atoms with two or more electrons because it ignores the electron–electron interactions.
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It cannot explain the fine structure and relative intensities of spectral lines. The model treats each spectral line as a single line of definite frequency, but experimentally many lines are found to consist of closely spaced components (fine structure), and some lines are more intense than others. Bohr's theory offers no way to calculate these intensities or the splitting.
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