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Birth of a physicist
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Ellen and Christian (professor of physiology and two time Nobel Prize nominee), Niels Henrik David Bohr would go on to earn himself the Nobel Prize for his application of the quantum concept on molecular structure. --Aaserud, Finn. "Niels Bohr". https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niels-Bohr. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 11/14/2019. -
Post-doctorate research
While working with Ernest Rutherford at the University of Manchester in England, Niels Bohr postulated a theory that Rutherford and his associates had proposed. The theory was that atoms were comprised of heavy, positive charged nucleus and much lighter negative charged electrons in it's orbit. Since this structure would be unstable, Niels looked for a solution. -Aaserud, Finn. "Niels Bohr". https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niels-Bohr. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 11/14/2019. -
The Bohr Model
Niels Bohr created an atomic model that showed that electrons orbited the nucleus in a specified orbit and that electromagnetic radiation occurred when one electron jumped to a lower energy orbit. This "jumping" by the electron is done by emitting or absorbing energy. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Bohr Model of the Atom Explained." ThoughtCo, Jul. 15, 2019, thoughtco.com/bohr-model-of-the-atom-603815. -
The Nobel Prize
Niels Bohr used his atomic model to explain why atoms emitted light in fixed wavelength due to jumping from one orbit to the other. Niels used the hydrogen atom to show this, though the idea of this reaction would later be used in the making of the atomic bomb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm2C0ovz-3M -Niels Bohr – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Wed. 22 Jan 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1922/bohr/facts/ -
It's all about the nucleus
Based upon Niels Bohr's proposed theory of the compound nucleus, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann unexpectedly discovered that Uranium atoms could be split into identical halves when bombarded with neutrons, essentially, nuclear fission. This fission would prove useful in developing the atomic bomb. -Aaserud, Finn. "Niels Bohr". https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niels-Bohr. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 11/14/2019. -
Reluctant assistance with the Atomic bomb
Although he didn't think it was possible with the world at war (for the second time), he reluctantly agreed to assist his colleague James Chadwick with the development of the atomic bomb before Germany was able to do this first. Once in New Mexico, Niels developed the design for the initiator of the plutonium bomb. -Aaserud, Finn. "Niels Bohr". https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niels-Bohr. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 11/14/2019.
