Bohr showed that the emission spectrum of hydrogen was continuous with no interruption across the entire visible wavelength range.
True
False
The correct answer and explanation is:
Correct Answer: False
Bohr did not show that the emission spectrum of hydrogen was continuous. In fact, Bohr’s atomic model explained why hydrogen exhibits a line spectrum, not a continuous one. A continuous spectrum contains all the wavelengths of visible light, with no gaps or interruptions, like what is observed in sunlight when passed through a prism. However, hydrogen emits only specific wavelengths, producing discrete lines rather than a smooth gradient of colors.
The Bohr model of the atom, developed in 1913, introduced the idea that electrons orbit the nucleus at fixed energy levels. According to Bohr, an electron in a hydrogen atom can absorb or emit energy only when it moves from one allowed energy level to another. When an electron falls from a higher energy level to a lower one, it emits a photon with a specific amount of energy. This energy corresponds to a specific wavelength of light. Therefore, the hydrogen atom produces light at specific wavelengths, which appear as bright lines in its emission spectrum.
These lines are grouped into series, such as the Lyman series (ultraviolet), the Balmer series (visible), and the Paschen series (infrared). The Balmer series includes wavelengths that fall in the visible region of the spectrum, and each line represents an electron transition to the second energy level from higher levels.
Bohr’s theory successfully explained the presence of these discrete spectral lines for hydrogen. His work was one of the first to use quantum theory to explain atomic behavior and demonstrated that atoms emit light in quantized packets, not as a continuous range. This directly contradicted the idea of a continuous emission spectrum and helped shape modern quantum mechanics.