⚛️ The Bohr atom — an electron jumps, a photon is born, a spectral line lights up

Pick the two orbits. The electron falls from the outer to the inner one, and the atom releases the exact energy difference as a single photon that lands on its own coloured line in the spectrum below.

Walkthrough 1 / 4

Step 1 — the nucleus and the allowed circular orbits. The electron circles on the outer one, nᵢ.

Start orbit n_i 3

End orbit n_f 2

Orbit rate 0.60

n_i=3 → n_f=2 · ΔE = 1.89 eV
λ = 656 nm · Balmer series

one jump → one photon → one sharp line
bigger drop → more energy → shorter λ

Animation speed 1.0×