"Your theory is crazy, but its not crazy
enough to be true"- Niels bohr
By: Jaleen Placencia
Bohr's life: |
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a famous physicist and humanitarian. He was born on October 7,1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Christian Bohr, was a physiology professor at Copenhagen University and his mother, Ellen Bohr, came from a wealthy banking family. Niels Bohr had 2 siblings, one whom became a teacher and another a mathematician and an olympics player.
Bohr went to Copenhagen University where he majored in physics but also studied astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. He graduated with a masters in mathematics in April 1909. On August 1, 1912, Niels Bohr married Magrethe Norlund and had six sons. One of their sons, Christian, died in a boating accident and their other son, Harald, died of meninigitis. In addition, another son of theirs, Aage, was awarded the nobel prize in 1975 who became a successful physicist. During his lifetime, Niels Bohr became known for many things such as the creation of the Atomic Theory and the Quantum Theory. He was awarded the nobel prize in 1922. He died November 19, 1962 (77 years old) in Denmark due to heart failure. |
NIel's Life Accomplishments:
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In 1913, Niel's Bohr created the Revolutionary Atomic theory which discovered that electrons traveled in seperate orbits around the positively charged nucleus. Moreover, he also discovered that the number of electrons signify the properties of the element. In addition, Niels Bohr discovered that the energy of an electron depended on the size of the orbit. The larger the orbit, the larger the energy of the electron. He determined that electrons can gain and lose energy by jumping from orbits and that electrons can orbit stably. He modified Rutherford's atomic model which illustrated the wrong idea that atoms were unstable.
Niels Bohr also proposed that an electron could travel from a high energy orbit to a lower one releasing a photon of energy in the process which became known as the Quantum Theory. In addition, he discovered that atoms cannot absorb nor release radiation constantly. Only in Quantum jumps. |
Did you know ?!
- He contributed towards the first Atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico . He had an important role in the Manhattan Project and was known by the name of Nicholas Baker for security reasons. He was a consultant for the Manhattan Project. He worked alongside the president Franklin Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and worried about the Nuclear Arms race. He fled Copenhagen, Denmark to avoid Nazi's prosecution and he became an advocate for nuclear peace. In 1957, he was awarded the first Atoms for Peace award.
- When Bohr fled Denmark for Sweden due to Nazi prosecution, he persuaded the Sweden King to provide aslyum to Jewish Refugees. He offered refuge for Jewish physicists due to Adolf Hitlers rise in power and allowed them to work in his lab
- During the debate surrounding the Quantum Theory with Albert Einstein, Einstein argued, " God does not play dice" and Bohr replied with "Einstein stop telling God what to do !"