Correct way to calculate energy in Bohr Atom Model

  • Level: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Bassalisk
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Atom Bohr
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
4 replies · 4K views
Bassalisk
Messages
946
Reaction score
2
I was deriving Bohr model formulas and I stumbled upon a problem.

When I use the postulate that says that you can apply Newtonian Mechanics to orbiting electron, I wrote the Coulomb's force as following:


Fc=(-e)*Z*e/(4pi(epsilon0)*r^2)


Minus from the electron means that the force will be attractive. But when I integrated it to get the energy I got a minus from integration. Now if I put in the charges in, I got that minus like from coulombs force and those 2 cancel out, leaving me with positive energy.


I escaped from this by using potential energy as positive and substituting charges like I did in Coulomb's Force, but this is workaround and its not mathematically correct.

I attached a relevant image.

What is full correct way to do this?
 
Attachments
Physics news on Phys.org
Since the F = -dV/dr, that would make dV = -F dr. I think you used a plus.
 
Thats by definition? So, I put full charge values into energy too, not by absolute value?
 
E_potential = - int Fc dr

please check the definition of potential energy
 
Again, I do enter charges by normal value, not absolute value, that would get rid of minus from the electric charge of electron (-e)?