Atomic Spectroscopy and the Bohr Model

Johannes Rydberg, a Swedish mathematician, analyzed many atomic spectra and developed an equation that predicts the wavelengths of the hydrogen anission spectrum. However, his equation (shown in the margin) gives little insight into why atomic spectra are discrete, why atoms are stable, or why his equation works. 

The Danish physicist Niels Bohr (1885-1962) attempted to develop a model for the atom that explained atomic spectra. In his model, electrons travel around the nucleus in 

The transitions between stationary states in a hydrogen atom are quite unlike any transitions 

A FIGURE 7.12 The Bohr Model and Emission Spectra According to the Bohr model, each spectral fine is produced when an electron falls from one stable orbit, or stationary state, to another of lower energy. 

A Fireworks typically contain the salts of such metals as sodium, calcium, strontium, barium, and copper. 

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