Question

Why does bohrs atomic theory fail?

Answer 1

The Bohr model says that electrons whizz around the atomic nucleus in the same way that the earth goes around the sun - but rather than being bound by gravity, it is bound by electromagnetic forces. ... Therefore, in the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom, the electron should be continually emitting electromagnetic radiation.

Answer 2

The main problem with Bohr's model is that it works very well for atoms with only one electron, like H or He+, but not at all for multi-electron atoms. Bohr was able to predict the difference in energy between each energy level, allowing us to predict the energies of each line in the emission spectrum of hydrogen, and understand why electron energies are quantized.

Bohr's model breaks down when applied to multi-electron atoms. It does not account for sublevels (s,p,d,f), orbitals or electron spin. Bohr's model allows classical behavior of an electron (orbiting the nucleus at discrete distances from the nucleus.