Combining Bohr's first postulate (electrostatic attraction supplies the centripetal force) with his second (quantized angular momentum, mevnrn=nh/2π) gives two simultaneous equations in the unknowns vn and rn for the nth allowed orbit. Solving them together yields the orbit-radius formula rn=πmeZe2n2h2ϵ0 -- the radius grows as the SQUARE of the principal quantum number n, meaning higher orbits are dramatically larger, not just slightly larger, than lower ones -- and the companion speed formula vn=2ϵ0hnZe2, showing the electron actually moves SLOWER in higher, larger orbits.
For hydrogen (Z=1), the n=1 radius works out to a special reference value, the Bohr radius a0=0.053 nm, so the general formula can be written compactly as rn=a0n2/Z for any hydrogen-like (single-electron) system with nuclear charge Z. This one formula is what makes it possible to directly compare orbit sizes across different values of n or Z -- for instance, showing that a singly ionized helium ion's first orbit (Z=2) is exactly half the size of hydrogen's first orbit (Z=1), or that a hydrogen atom's 8th orbit is sixteen times larger in area (four times larger in radius) than its 4th orbit.
[!TLDR] In the n=2 orbit, r2=4a0=0.212 nm and v2=v1/2≈1.094×106 m/s, giving period T=2πr2/v2≈1.218×10−15 s; number of revolutions in 10−8 s = 10−8/T≈8.22×106. [!ANSWER] About 8.22×106 revolutions.
For hydrogen's n=2 orbit, r2=a0n2=0.053×4=0.212 nm =2.12×10−10 m, and v2=v1/n=2.188×106/2=1.094×106 m/s (using the known n=1 speed v1≈2.188×106 m/s). The time for one complete revolution (the period) is T=v22πr2=1.094×1062π(2.12×10−10)≈1.218×10−15 s. The number of revolutions completed in the given time 10−8 s is then 1.218×10−1510−8≈8.21×106, in close agreement with the more precisely carried-through value of 8.221×106. [!ANSWER] About 8.22×106 revolutions.
Compute r2 and v2 from the Bohr-model scalings (rn∝n2, vn∝1/n), find the orbital period T=2πr2/v2, then divide the given time by T.
Using r1 and v1 (the ground-state values) instead of correctly scaling both to n=2, which would give a badly wrong period and hence a badly wrong revolution count.
Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.
CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQ
Q.The relation between angular momentum (L) and radius (r) of an electron revolving in a Bohr-orbit is
(a) L ∝ r
(b) L ∝ r⁻¹
(c) L ∝ r²
(d) does not depend on radius.
›Reveal solutionSolution
From Bohr's two results, L=nh/2π∝n and rn∝n2, eliminating n gives the true relation L∝r — which is not literally one of the four options offered, so this needs an honest note rather than a forced pick.
In the Bohr model of the hydrogen-like atom, two standard results follow from the quantisation postulate and the Coulomb force providing centripetal force:
Bohr's angular-momentum quantisation: L=mvr=2πnh, so L∝n.
The orbit radius: balancing rmv2=r2kZe2 together with the quantisation condition gives rn=πmZe2n2h2ε0, so r∝n2.
Eliminating the quantum number n between these two: since r∝n2, we have n∝r, and since L∝n, substituting gives
L∝ri.e.L2∝r
This is the physically correct relationship — angular momentum grows only as the SQUARE ROOT of the orbit radius, not linearly, inversely, or as its square. None of the four printed choices (L∝r, L∝r⁻¹, L∝r², independent of r) is exactly this. Being honest about that mismatch rather than picking a wrong option with false confidence: if a single choice must be marked, (a) L ∝ r is the least-wrong pick only in the sense that it is also a directly increasing relationship (like the true r dependence), unlike the inverse or r² options — but the correct physics answer is L∝r.
✓Final answer
Correctly, L∝r (from L∝n and r∝n2). This does not exactly match any of the four printed options; among them, (a) is the closest in character (both increasing with r).
CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQ
Q.The radius of eighth orbit of electron in H-atom will be more than that of fourth orbit by a factor of ______.
(a) 2
(b) 4
(c) 8
(d) 16
›Reveal solutionSolution
Bohr orbit radius scales as n2.
The radius of the nth Bohr orbit is rn=n2r1 (radius ∝n2). So
r4r8=(48)2=22=4
The eighth orbit's radius is 4 times the fourth orbit's radius.