# The Hydrogen Atom (Schrodinger vs original Bohr theory)

What quantities appear in both the Schrodinger approach and the original Bohr theory of a hydrogen atom?
Also, in what ways do the two approaches differ?

I'm not sure which quantities appear in both approaches. My guess would be that it has something to do with the energy levels and angular momentum, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure how to show it.

I think a couple of ways they differ are as follows:
The original Bohr model suggests that the electron travels in a circular orbit around the nucleus, while the Schrodinger approach suggests that the electron travels in an elliptical orbit.
Another way they differ is that the Bohr model treats the electron as a particle orbiting the nucleus, while the Schrodinger model assumes the electron is a wave and tries to describe the regions in space, or orbitals.

Is any of this correct?

Thank you for any and all help.

G01
Homework Helper
Gold Member
The "energy levels", i.e. the quantum number, n, does appear in both both Bohr Theory and Schrodinger Theory.

When solving the hydrogen atom problem using the the Schrodinger equation, you assume the electron is described by a wavefunction.

The eigensolutions for the S.E.Q. do not have definite radial values, so it not correct to say that the Schrodinger approach assumes elliptical orbits.