- #1
greypilgrim
- 547
- 38
Hi,
Is it more than mere coincidence that we get the correct energy levels (ignoring relativistic, QFT and spin shifts) of the hydrogen atom using Bohr's model? The assumptions it is based on just don't agree with modern QM.
Since I'm going to be a physics teacher, there's also a didactic aspect to this question. Bohr's model takes a great part in the QM chapter of almost every high school physics textbook, but I assume this is mostly for its simplicity, since you need only high school math. I don't like Bohr's model because of all the contradictions with modern QM, and the answer to above question could decide if I'm going to teach it or not.
Something similar happens regarding black holes: If you set the escape velocity ##v=\sqrt{2GM/r}## from a mass to ##c## and solve it to ##r=2GM/c^2##, you get the Schwarzschild radius. This calculation is also done in some textbooks, arguing ##r## is the smallest distance an object with maximum velocity ##c## can escape the mass.
I also highly doubt that it is more than coincidence that those results agree.
Is it more than mere coincidence that we get the correct energy levels (ignoring relativistic, QFT and spin shifts) of the hydrogen atom using Bohr's model? The assumptions it is based on just don't agree with modern QM.
Since I'm going to be a physics teacher, there's also a didactic aspect to this question. Bohr's model takes a great part in the QM chapter of almost every high school physics textbook, but I assume this is mostly for its simplicity, since you need only high school math. I don't like Bohr's model because of all the contradictions with modern QM, and the answer to above question could decide if I'm going to teach it or not.
Something similar happens regarding black holes: If you set the escape velocity ##v=\sqrt{2GM/r}## from a mass to ##c## and solve it to ##r=2GM/c^2##, you get the Schwarzschild radius. This calculation is also done in some textbooks, arguing ##r## is the smallest distance an object with maximum velocity ##c## can escape the mass.
I also highly doubt that it is more than coincidence that those results agree.