Which model is described as the planetary model of the atom?

Which model is described as the planetary model of the atom?

• A. Ernest Rutherford
• B. Niels Bohr
• C. James Chadwick
• D. Louis de Broglie

Answer: (B)

Think of the atom as a tiny solar system: a nucleus at the center with electrons moving in circular paths around it. That planetary picture is what this model uses. The version described here is Bohr’s model, because he kept the idea of electrons in orbits around the nucleus but added that only certain orbits are allowed and each has a fixed energy. When an electron jumps between these levels, light is emitted or absorbed in specific amounts, which explains the observed spectral lines. Rutherford’s model had a similar solar-system vibe but didn’t include these fixed-orbit energies and couldn’t account for the lines. De Broglie introduced the wave nature of particles, leading to wave mechanics, and Chadwick discovered the neutron, not a planetary-atom picture.

Think of the atom as a tiny solar system: a nucleus at the center with electrons moving in circular paths around it. That planetary picture is what this model uses. The version described here is Bohr’s model, because he kept the idea of electrons in orbits around the nucleus but added that only certain orbits are allowed and each has a fixed energy. When an electron jumps between these levels, light is emitted or absorbed in specific amounts, which explains the observed spectral lines. Rutherford’s model had a similar solar-system vibe but didn’t include these fixed-orbit energies and couldn’t account for the lines. De Broglie introduced the wave nature of particles, leading to wave mechanics, and Chadwick discovered the neutron, not a planetary-atom picture.