Bohr atom

noun, Physics.
1.
See under Bohr theory.
Origin
1920-25; after N. Bohr
Bohr atom in Culture
Bohr atom [(bawr)]

The simplest modern picture of the structure of the atom, according to which electrons move in orbits around the nucleus. The electron's orbits can exist only at certain well-defined distances from the nucleus. When an electron changes orbits, it does so in a sudden quantum leap. The energy difference between the initial and final orbit is emitted by the atom in bundles of electromagnetic radiation called photons.

Note: The Bohr atom is named after the twentieth-century Danish physicist Niels Bohr.