Q.Calculate the radius of the first Bohr orbit of the hydrogen atom. (Take h=6.63×10−34 J s, me=9.1×10−31 kg, e=1.6×10−19 C, ϵ0=8.85×10−12 C2N−1m−2.)
Concept understanding — Bohr Model — Orbit Radii
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.
r1=πme2ϵ0h2 (Z=1, n=1). Substituting the given constants gives r1≈0.53×10−10 m.
r1≈0.53×10−10 m=0.53 Å (the standard accepted value is 0.529 Å).
Using rn=πmZe2ϵ0n2h2 (Example 5) with n=1, Z=1:
r1=πme2ϵ0h2
Substituting ϵ0=8.85×10−12, h=6.63×10−34, m=9.1×10−31, e=1.6×10−19:
h2=4.396×10−67,ϵ0h2=3.89×10−78
e2=2.56×10−38,πme2=7.32×10−68
r1=7.32×10−683.89×10−78≈5.3×10−11 m=0.53×10−10 m
r1≈0.53×10−10 m (Bohr radius; the precisely accepted value, using more exact constants, is 0.529 Å).
Set n=1,Z=1 in the general orbit-radius formula, then substitute and evaluate each given constant carefully, tracking powers of ten separately.
- Arithmetic slips combining the powers of ten (a very common source of an answer wrong by several orders of magnitude here).
- Forgetting to square h and e before substituting.
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.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:
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Bohr's angular-momentum quantisation: L=mvr=2πnh, so L∝n.
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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 answerCorrectly, 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).
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- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.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.
✓Final answer4 — option (b).
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