Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr(7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was aDanishphysicist who helped discoverquantum physics,the structure of theatom,and theatomic bomb.Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1922 for, discovering the quantization of atomic energy levels. He worked on theManhattan Project.He married Margrethe Nørlund in 1912. One of his sons wasAage Bohr,who was also an important physicist. Aage won in 1975 his ownNobel prize.Niels Bohr worked also withAlbert Einstein.He is also considered one of the most important physicists of the 20th century.
Biography[change|change source]
Niels Henrik David Bohr, or Niels Bohr was born inCopenhagen,Denmark,1885 as the son of Christian Bohr, who was also professor ofphysiologyat theUniversity of Copenhagen.Bohr's mother was Ellen Adler Bohr and wasJewishwith a rich family of bankers and politicians. Niels was also the brother ofHarald Bohr.Bohr was amathematician,a physicist, and a football player of the national team.
In 1903 Bohr began studies of philosophy andmathematicsat the Copenhagen University.
In 1905 the Royal Danish Academy of Science organized a competition. Niels Bohr participated with some experiments in surface tension. He used the laboratory of his father in the university, because he knew it since he was a boy.
His work won the prize. For this reason, he decided to stop the studies of philosophy and mathematics and changed to physics.
He received his doctorate in 1911.
Bohr did experiments in the Trinity College inCambridgeunder the direction of J.J. Thomson. After it, he went to the University ofManchesterunder the direction ofErnest Rutherford.On the basis of the theories of Rutherford, he published his theory of electrons. He introduces the theory of electrons traveling in orbits around the nucleus of theatomin 1913 and the chemical properties of the orbit.
He introduced the idea that anelectroncan drop from a higher energy orbit to a lower one. Then it can emit aphotonof discrete energy. This is the basis ofquantum theory.
Niels Bohr and his wife Margrethe Nørlund Bohr had four sons. Their oldest died in a tragic boating accident and another died from childhood meningitis. The others went on to lead successful lives, including Aage Bohr, who became a very successful physicist and, like his father, won a Nobel Prize in physics, in 1975.
British actorKenneth Branaghplayed Bohr in the 2023Christopher NolanmovieOppenheimer.
